Carmelo Anthony finally got the record straight as to why he decided not to join the Miami Heat at the height of the Big 3 era of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, saying he wasn’t mentally prepared to be the fourth option on that star-studded team.
During a podcast episode with Paul George issued on July 22, Anthony confirmed that he and fellow stars James and Wade had talked about joining forces on the same team a few years before the landscape-changing events in the 2010 NBA free agency went down, though he admitted he was uncertain which team they would end up together.
"Imagine me at 23 years old… being the 4th option on a team when I'm leading [the Nuggets] every single year… I don't know mentally how I was gonna be ready for that."
Carmelo Anthony on not teaming up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the Heat.pic.twitter.com/MlyHi6O7gx
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 22, 2024
Melo-Bron Tandem in New York or Chicago
Anthony added that they were looking at the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks as the possible destinations where they would like to team up since these are big market teams.
However, Anthony put himself out of the equation from the Super Team plans when he signed a five-year rookie contract extension with the Denver Nuggets instead of the three-year deals inked by his fellow 2003 Draft classmates.
James, Wade, and LeBron would hit the free-agency market three years later, leading up to their highly-publicized union with the Heat.
Anthony said he lauded the sacrifices of his batchmates to take a significant salary cut in order for the Heat to accommodate them into their payroll at that time. LeBron, Wade and Bosh agreed to deals shades below the max salary ranging between $14M and $16M to get themselves on the same team.
Melo Admits Not Business-Savvy at That Time
The former All-Star admitted that he wasn’t business savvy enough to think that a free-agency move of such magnitude was even possible, adding that he wasn’t ready to let go of millions of dollars on the table and his situation with the Nuggets, who were perennial playoff contenders at that time.
“So at the time of the collective bargaining agreement, I didn’t understand contracts in three years or five years,” Anthony stated on the podcast. “I knew a little bit but I wasn’t business savvy enough to understand what was to happen. So in my situation, I was in Denver, I didn’t want to leave so why take a three-year deal?”
Anthony Did Not Want to be the Fourth Option on the Heat
The former scoring champion also revealed a personal reason why he could not see himself playing with LeBron, Wade, and Bost at the height of their careers.
“At that time I wasn’t ready to go partner and team up with nobody because I was building my own [expletive] in Denver.”
Imagine me at 23 years old, 24 years old being the fourth option on a team when I am leading my team every single year, trying to find my way in this league, and you want me to leave that and be the fourth option? I don’t know mentally how I was gonna be ready for that.
Anthony eventually winded up with the Knicks in a three-team, multi-player deal in February 2011. He had served as the franchise player for the Knicks for seven seasons and played with five more teams before capping his Hall of Fame career with the Lakers in 2022.
Anthony averaged 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 19 NBA seasons, making it in 10 All-Star teams and 6 All-NBA teams with one scoring title in 2013.
