NBA veteran Carmelo Anthony is reportedly hoping for one last "farewell season" in the league before he calls it quits, it just remains to be seen which team, if any, will give him the opportunity.
On Wednesday, NBA insider Shams Charania reiterated a June report from SNY's Ian Begley, which states that the Knicks could have been the organization to give Melo his farewell tour if they had signed two superstar free agents, such as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club last week, NBA trainer Chris Brickley described how Carmelo is better than "60 percent, 70 percent of the NBA players walking around," and more than deserving of another run before he retires.
Says Brickley:
"He’s easily better than 60 percent, 70 percent of NBA players walking around. It’s just I think teams are afraid of, ‘I want to be the star,’ or ‘I want this.’ That’s not the case, though. Melo just wants to have a final season, a farewell season, do what D-Wade did. Do the jersey swap. He had a great career, he’s a Hall of Famer. So, hopefully that can happen.”
With Team USA set to compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in September, some fans were wondering if Carmelo would at least get an invite to training camp on August 5. As USA Basketball’s all-time leader in career points, rebounds, and games played, Melo's wife LaLa says he should have been invited "out of respect."
However, Shams Charania recently shut down the speculation, saying, "Team USA will not go in that direction, will not consider that option.”