There had been rumors that New York superstar Carmelo Anthony’s possible destination come summer free agency is the Lakers but the king of Los Angeles himself said he will not actively recruit the high-scoring forward.
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Though a good friend of Anthony, injured star guard Kobe Bryant told the media on Sunday that he will not aggressively ask his pal to join him to play home games in staple center but rather he will let Melo to decide.
“Well, everybody wants to play in Los Angeles,” Bryant said after the Lakers lost to the Knicks, talking about the possible appeal of Los Angeles to a bigwig free agent Anthony on July 1. (Statement from ESPNLosAngeles.com)
“I think that players, when that time comes, will have to make the best decision for them and their families. I try not to think about it too much. If he wants to call me for advice later as a friend, I will be more than happy to give it to him.” He added.
The Black Mamba however admitted that the man who recently broke his scoring record in the Madison is one of the best talents in the NBA.
On Saturday, Anthony, the last season’s scoring champion, dropped a career-high 62 points in the Knicks win over the Bobcats to shatter Bryant’s 61 markers record in the Garden.
According to ESPN, Anthony has the option to either stay with New York and sign a five-year contract worth $129,135,806 or opt out to become free agent and find another team, where he can only earn a maximum four-year $95,897,372 deal.
Other marquee free agents on summer are LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Loul Deng, Zach Randolph and Pau Gasol.