You know why LeBron James decided he wanted to return home to Cleveland and attempt to finish what he started? Carmelo Anthony inspired him. How do we know this? Carmelo said so.
During a recent chat with Michael Strahan for AdWeek, Anthony was asked if LeBron’s decision to return to the Cavaliers influenced him to re-sign with the New York Knicks.
“No. Honestly, I think it was the other way around,” he told Strahan. “I think he saw when I came back home to New York and saw the response and saw the reaction and saw how at peace I was when I came back home. … I’m pretty sure he looked at that moment and saw that that was a very special moment, and he had the opportunity to go back home himself and regain that love.”
That’s cute. Maybe I’m missing something, but I find the fact that Carmelo thinks his situation had an affect on LeBron’s to be pretty funny. Anthony was “at peace” when he returned home to New York because he was unhappy in Denver and wanted a shot at winning a championship. He thought the Knicks could give him that. LeBron is returning home to finish what he started, and if he didn’t have two championship rings already he probably wouldn’t have even gone back to Cleveland.
James returned to Cleveland because he wants to complete his legacy. He knows it is unlikely that he’s going to catch Jordan’s six rings, so now he has a chance to do something no player has ever done — come back to the place he betrayed and try to win a championship. Anthony’s story is nothing like that.
Oh, and let’s not forget that LeBron grew up in Akron, Ohio. Carmelo moved to Baltimore when he was a young boy and even has a tattoo that represents West Baltimore. He also had Orioles logos on his old car calls Baltimore his hometown on his charity website.
Again, it’s cute that ‘Melo thinks he played a role in the biggest story of the sports year.
