ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith agrees with Royce White that the Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James should use his clout to get free agent Carmelo Anthony on a NBA team:
“Is 450 players in the National Basketball Association? You can’t find 450 players on the planet better than Carmelo Anthony. I don’t give a damn what anybody says. … I appreciate him making that point and not to sit up there and knock LeBron in any way, because it’s not like LeBron has an obligation to do anything, let’s be clear about that he’s a player he’s not an executive. But Royce (White) does making valid point in this regard.
That’s your man and LeBron James does have cloud … and I happen to know that on several occasions LeBron James has spoken up on behalf of Carmelo Anthony. I happen to know on at least one or two occasions, you know, the subject has been broached between LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, and obviously LeBron was like keep your head up get yourself in shape be ready to go that kind of thing, but I think what we have to appreciate that was Royce White is coming from is LeBron James is the iconic brand in the basketball world…
When we see the money that Tristan Thompson got paid in Cleveland, when we see the money that JR Smith got paid in Cleveland, although it’s L.A. it’s not Cleveland, it’s not beyond the realm of comprehension that there is some cloud that LeBron carries. If he’s saying that LeBron should be able to get Melo on a team, I definitely think that it’s plausible,” Smith said.
This past season, Anthony played in 10 games and mostly came off the bench to score 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
