Carmelo Anthony continues proving he has been a terrific offseason addition for the Los Angeles Lakers — impacting L.A. in more ways than he perhaps gets credited with this year.
Anthony erupted for 24 points in the win over the Portland Trail Blazers, shooting 66.7% from the field and 83.3% from the 3-point land. The 37-year-old forward is averaging 13.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in the current campaign, often taking some of the offensive responsibilities off the Lakers’ Big 3 when he comes off the bench.
In addition to Anthony’s offensive input, the Purple and Gold have been in awe over the veteran’s leadership — both on and off the court. Head coach Frank Vogel recently emphasized the forward’s “basketball integrity” that, he claims, rubs off on his Lakers teammates.
Similarly, Anthony Davis couldn’t find enough words to commend the future Hall-of-Famer for his mentorship and support after the Wednesday victory.
“It’s been great, he’s been helping me all year, especially in the post,” Davis said. “He’s been a dominant post player his whole career and now he’s here, he’s helping me with double teams and moves and things like that.
“But he’s always talking, he’s always talking to me, to the guys about what he sees on the floor, what he thinks we should do, what we should be running, and he’s been great for us. His shot-making ability has been off the charts. He’s come here and is playing extremely well for us.
“I saw something when I was gonna before the game, his last two he was like 2-for-10 from three and it just surprised me, I was just like ‘that’s strange, I didn’t notice that’ and then he came out tonight on fire. So his playmaking and his shot-making ability has just been great for us, gets the crowd into it, gets our team into it, especially when he’s hot. It gets everybody going.”
Davis added Anthony doesn’t get enough credit for his impact on the defensive end — even if he doesn’t belong among the fastest players in the league.
“He’s been a voice in the locker room, a voice on the floor and the way he’s still able to score the basketball, and guys try to pick on him in the paint on the defensive end but the way he talks and reads defenses where he can kind of manipulate the game, which I think that part of his game is underrated,” the All-Star said.
“He’s not the fastest, but he talks to us in coverages to where it helps the team and it’s been good for us, him scrambling, he’s able to guard bigger guys. On the perimeter, he’s talking even though he’s guarding the ball.vWhether we’re trapping or just showing bodies, whatever it is, he’s been great for us and we’re gonna continue to need him to do the things that he’s doing for us to win basketball games and ultimately fight for a championship. So like he says, just stay Melo.”
Vogel: Anthony’s form in Year 19 is ‘remarkable’
Vogel echoed Davis’ words, saying Anthony’s form in 2021-22 deserves more attention than it gets.
“LeBron [James] gets a lot of credit for what he’s doing in Year 19 and I don’t think people are talking about what Carmelo is doing in Year 19,” the Lakers head coach said. “It really is remarkable. He was terrific tonight like AD said.”
Vogel then joined Davis in praising Anthony’s contribution on the defensive end.
“Obviously, he was scoring the basketball but we had some coverages we were trying to work out down the stretch in the fourth and defensively he was right on top of all that stuff,” Vogel said.
“Communicating it. Just talking some of our guys through where they need to be and the IQ and the leadership and the desire. The desire to win. The competitive spirit was just great, but the shot-making is fun to watch and he’s a big part of the win tonight.”
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