Carmelo Anthony opens up on what it felt like to be asked to come off the bench

Carmelo Anthony is one of the greatest pure scorers in NBA history. Sadly, that hasn’t translated into much success in the postseason, as he’s yet to make his first appearance in the NBA Finals.

But more than that, Melo’s scoring skills were often questioned and doubted. He was out of the league for over a year, pointed out, and scapegoated as a ‘toxic presence’ in the locker room.

Eventually, the Portland Trail Blazers gave him another shot to showcase his talents and silence his critics. To do that, however, he had to accept to come off the bench after more than a decade of being a primary scorer.

Carmelo Anthony Admits He Had To Swallow His Pride To Come Off The Bench

Recently, Anthony was brutally honest regarding that transition. A lot of people thought he would never accept a lesser role and that’s why teams didn’t even reach out to him. Eventually, he proved them wrong:

(Transcript via Lakers Nation)

“I actually committed to it for the first time this year. This past season with Portland because when I first got to Portland, I came in playing right away. My role was explained to me from the door. You’re coming in you’re playing you’re starting. That role was explained to me. So I knew that role.

The following year, this past season coming into the season, they said look, ‘This is what we think is best for the team.’ Listen, I’m cool. Just be transparent with me. I was cool with that decision. I’ve never done it before. I’ve done it with USA before. I’ve done it briefly in Houston for a couple games, but I had to figure out a way to motivate myself and keep going in a different position in a different role.

So you are going 16-17 years and you’re the guy on the team and you’re the star and then all of sudden, somebody is like ‘Come off the bench.’ I had to swallow that ego, swallow that pride, but I also had to use that ego and that pride to keep me on edge and keep me motivated. I’ve accepted that. It played out well in Portland. That was my first time doing that and experiencing that at that level. I enjoyed it. It was fun, it was basketball. I was still able to do my thing and play ball and have fun and have the love for the game again.”

At the end of the day, all Anthony wants to do is what he does best: Hooping. He wants to play, he knows he belongs in the league, and he’ll finally have a big shot to win a ring now that he joined the Los Angeles Lakers.