At 37 years old, Carmelo Anthony found himself getting punked by someone nearly two decades his junior on Wednesday.
Anthony and the Los Angeles Lakers lost in overtime to the 15th-place Houston Rockets. The Lakers gave up 19 points in the overtime period, which was the most allowed by any team in overtime this NBA season.
Rookie guard Jalen Green, who led Houston with a career-high 32 points, had a disrespectful comment about Anthony after the game. Green was asked by a reporter what the team’s mindset was in the overtime session.
“I mean, the gameplan was attack Melo, put him in isolation,” said Green. “My teammates kept feeding me, so I knew what to do with it … It turned out perfectly.”
Jalen Green on Rockets closing stretch: "The game plan was to attack Melo. Put him in isolation." pic.twitter.com/sZ3yhtgGw5
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) March 10, 2022
Most players, when posed with the same question, would say something along the lines of, “Get good shots, keep the ball moving, and work hard on defense.” Anthony, who was a -14 in 30 minutes, is indeed a slow and weak defender, so it probably was Houston’s concerted strategy to attack him. But it was hilariously savage for Green to explicitly admit as much on television.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, who are now a full nine games under .500, the disrespect for Anthony is the least of their concerns right now. The team as a whole also had many other extremely low points during the loss to Houston.
Photo: Nov 27, 2019; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers power forward Carmelo Anthony (00) warms up prior to tip off against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
