The new episode of HBO’s “The Shop” premieres Friday night at 6 p.m. PT on HBO Max and it features Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony. In addition to Anthony, the episode also features rapper Jack Harlow, comedian and writer Jason Sudeikis, actor and producer Keegan-Michael Key and WNBA All-Star Liz Cambage while Paul Rivera hosts the conversation.
This has been a busy summer for Anthony, who signed with the Lakers on a one-year contract to join his friend LeBron James in pursuit of his first NBA Championship.
Anthony has been through a lot the last few years, going from one of the NBA’s brightest stars to out of the league completely. “The Shop” gives athletes and celebrities a platform to open up about their experiences, and it seems that’s what Anthony does on this episode.
He took to Twitter to tease a clip talking about the conversations he had with his family when he was out of the league:
BIG episode of #TheShop coming tonight at 9pm on @HBOMax. @uninterrupted pic.twitter.com/cU30rrFAV3
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) August 27, 2021
James, who typically is the star of “The Shop” but does not appear in this episode, responded in support of his friend and now teammate:
So DAMN happy you didn’t cave in my brother!! Keep going!! https://t.co/uNZyiI1BP2
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 27, 2021
The Portland Trail Blazers gave Anthony a chance to get back in the NBA and he rewarded them with strong play over the last two seasons. He accepted a reduced role in 2020-21 and produced one of his most efficient seasons, shooting a career-high 40.9% from 3-point range.
With the Lakers’ blockbuster acquisition of Russell Westbrook, they are once again looking like legit championship contenders and Anthony should be a big part of that if he continues to shoot at the level he did in Portland.
Anthony coming with ‘championship on my mind’
He has spoken about how motivated he is to win his first championship, and the Lakers should give him his best opportunity to accomplish that, proving a lot of doubters wrong in the process.
“Well, like I said, every year we all come into the season saying, ‘Okay, we want to win a championship,’” Anthony said. “How hard it is to get there and to achieve that, that’s on a whole other level. That’s extremely hard to accomplish that.
“I’m coming in with a championship on my mind. I think that we all know that this is the one thing that I’m missing. This is the one thing that keeps me up at night. It motivates me because I don’t have it. I want that experience.”
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