Carmelo Anthony has some thoughts on his role with the Oklahoma City Thunder after they were bounced from the first round of the NBA Playoffs by the Utah Jazz.
“I think the player that they wanted me to be and needed me to be was for the sake of this season,” Anthony said during exit interview, according to USA Today. “Everything was just thrown together and it wasn’t anything that was planned out. Wasn’t no strategy to me being here, me being a part of the actual system and what type of player and things like that.”
Anthony was traded from the New York Knicks to the Thunder prior to the start of the season. The 10-time NBA All-Star with a career average of 24.1 points per game saw his scoring average drop to 16.2 points per game this season. While some critics have suggested Anthony’s decline in scoring warranted a demotion to a bench role, Anthony didn’t sound particularly receptive to the idea.
“I’m not sacrificing no bench role,” Anthony added. “That’s out the question. I think everybody knows that I’ve sacrificed kind of damn near everything—family, moving here by myself…sacrificed my game for the sake of the team, and was willing to sacrifice any and everything in order for this situation to work out.”
Anthony waived a no-trade clause in his contract to facilitate the trade to Oklahoma City. He can opt in to the final year of that contract and earn $28 million next season.
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