Anthony ‘surprised big time’ about brief tenure in Houston
Carmelo Anthony broke his silence since being let go by the Rockets last November when he went on ESPN’s First Take on Friday morning and talked to Stephen A. Smith about his brief tenure with the Rockets and his future.
Anthony was thought to be a big free agent signing for the Rockets last offseason, but he lasted just 10 games, coming off the bench and averaging 13.4 points and shooting 40.5 percent from the floor (32.8 percent from the 3-point line).
Anthony said he was shocked when Rockets general manager Daryl Morey informed him the team was letting him go so quickly, especially because the Rockets had pursued him as a free agent all the way back in 2014 before Anthony decided to re-sign with the Knicks.
“I was surprised by it big time,” Anthony said. “It went from, ‘Oh, this is a piece we want, this is a piece we need.’ Mind you, we’ve been talking for three years, four years, they were trying to get me to come to the Houston Rockets, and I finally went there. I get there, I’m thinking everything is good. I’m doing everything I’ve got to do — never miss a practice, did all my work, I was real professional with everybody there.
“I don’t think there’s one person there who can say I wasn’t a professional there. I did what I had to do. I did my work. Then the 10th game came and I just didn’t understand where that came from. I actually reached out to Daryl first, and said, ‘Can we talk about how can we make this better? What can we do to fix this? What can I do to fix this?’ But he already had in his mind that he wanted to come talk to me about releasing me and letting me go, so I didn’t like how that went down.”
The day before he was told his time with the Rockets was done, Anthony scored just two points and shot 1 of 11 from the field in a 98-80 loss in Oklahoma City that dropped the Rockets to 4-6. The team was in San Antonio preparing for a game the next day when Anthony said he wanted to talk to Morey about the situation, and that’s when he got the news in his hotel room that he would no longer suit up for the Rockets.
“He told me I wasn’t going to make the rotation,” Anthony said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t make a nine-man rotation, that’s what you’re trying to tell me?’ I’d already started to accept the fact that I’ve got to come off the bench, which was very hard for me, but I accepted that and I moved on from that. But you’re telling me that I can’t make a 9- or 10-man rotation on this team? It’s deeper than basketball.”
The Rockets kept Anthony on the roster as they looked to move him before finally trading him to the Bulls on Jan. 22. He was waived by the Bulls without ever suiting up.
Anthony said he was hurt and talked to teammate Chris Paul, who is a longtime friend, and asked if he had anything to do with the situation or knew about it beforehand.
“I had a one-on-one, heart to heart with CP in my room at 1 o’clock in the morning,” Anthony said. “Looked him in his eye, he looked me in my eye and told me, ‘Yo, I would never do something like that to you.’ I take that. With me and him, it goes deeper than basketball. So, for him to sit there and really feel the pain that I was going through at that moment, being very vulnerable at that moment, I honestly can say that I don’t think he knew anything about it.”
Anthony contradicted himself about speaking to James Harden. At one point, Anthony said he called Paul and Harden right away and both told him they didn’t have anything to do with the team’s decision. Later, Anthony said he couldn’t speak about Harden’s knowledge of the situation but didn’t think Harden was behind it.
“I never spoke to James about this, so I would never jump the gun. I would never make that assumption,” Anthony said.
The Rockets lost to the Spurs the day after Anthony was told he wouldn’t play for the team again, but then won five games in a row. After starting the season 11-14, the Rockets went 42-15 the rest of the way.
Anthony, who is a 10-time NBA All-Star and six-time All-NBA player, is still unsigned but hopes to play this season.
“I know I can still play,” Anthony said.