Carmelo Anthony counseled superstar Damian Lillard before to his Oct. 12 trade from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks.
“You were in the same situation I was in, in Denver,” Anthony said to Lillard before the trade (via 7 PM in Brooklyn, a Wave Sports + Entertainment Original 13:00 mark). “Our loyalty gonna kill us.”
Anthony spent nearly seven seasons with the Denver Nuggets before being moved to the New York Knicks in the midst of the 2010-11 season.
Lillard spent his first 11 seasons with the Trail Blazers, becoming one of the franchise’s most recognizable players. He presently holds the all-time Portland marks for points, free throws, and three-pointers made. Although the Trail Blazers did not make the playoffs in his final two seasons with the franchise, the former No. 6 overall pick stayed loyal to the organization before demanding a trade this offseason.
“The casuals will not be addressed, but the trailblazers fans and city of Portland that I truly love will be… and they will be addressed truthfully,” Lillard stated in a post on X, now known as Twitter after the trade was done. “Remain tuned. “I’m looking forward to the next chapter!”
While Anthony’s viewpoint is unlikely to be the main reason Lillard requested a change of scenery, it is surely influential. He presently ranks eighth all-time in NBA scoring and was named to the league’s 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Anthony, nearing the conclusion of his career, spent two seasons in Portland with Lillard from 2019 to 21. As a Trail Blazers player in his mid-30s, he averaged 14.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while hitting 39.9 percent of his three-point attempts.
