Carmelo Anthony explains what it truly means to be a Laker

Well, it finally happened. Carmelo Anthony did what thousands ofNBA fans wanted him to do once and for all: Team up with LeBron James in the Los Angeles Lakers to try and win a championship.

Anthony had been tied to the Lakers for years and, given his lifelong relationship with LeBron, it was kind of shocking that this didn’t happened before. To some, he wanted to win on his own rather than ring-chase.

But, now that he’s heading towards the sunset of his career and the clock continues to tick on him, it seems like he finally realized that this was a match made in heaven if he wanted to become an NBA Champion.

Carmelo Anthony Speaks Up On What It Means To Be A Laker

More than that, Anthony seems humbled by the opportunity of playing for such a historied franchise like the Lakers. He’s excited and looking forward to the next – and possibly last – step of his career.

“I think people downplay that as far as what it truly means to be a Laker. It’s a special thing, a special moment, a special experience. I want to embrace that. I don’t take any of that for granted,” the former Knicks star said.

Anthony Reveals His Ultimate Goal

Also, Carmelo opened up on how badly he wants to win an NBA Championship – or at least make it to the NBA Finals. According to him, that’s the only thing that still keeps him up at night:

“This is the one thing I’m missing. This is the one thing that keeps me up at night, that motivates me because I don’t have it,” Anthony said.

This Is How LeBron James Got Him To Sign With The Lakers

LeBron used his leverage to get him to sign with the purple-and-gold. He reached out to Melo and told him that the time to team up had come after being close friends since before making it to the league:

“The time is now, we’ve got to make it happen. We want you,” James told Melo, according to The Athletic.“Timing is everything. For years we’ve always laughed about it and spoke about it. The time is now for us to be on the same team. It couldn’t have come at a better time,” Carmelo said.

It’s hard not to root for a guy like Carmelo Anthony. He’s one of the greatest scorers in the history of basketball, and if winning a ring is what it takes for his haters to finally acknowledge his value, then so be it.