Carmelo Anthony has returned to the NBA. The 35-year-old basketballer is the newest Portland Trail Blazers forward.
He has released a short video, in which he explains the process or returning to NBA and his preparation. The video is part of his “Melo Monday” series.
He says everything happened really quickly, in just 48 hours. The last year and a half for him has been “an emotional rollercoaster.”
Last Wednesday he got a call from the Trail Blazers with the offer to join them. The next day, he said yes. And immediately, on Friday, he had to “get right into it.”
Carmelo Anthony back in NBA
He admitted he had “mentally and emotionally detached himself from the game a little bit just to get some sanity and not to think about it.” Once he got the call, the challenge was for him “just to flip that back.”
He needed some time to get in shape for the games because there is “a big difference between training while you’re waiting and […] once you get the call.”
His trainer Alex Bazzel supervised Anthony’s regime and helped get him in game shape. That had to happen as quickly as possible.
Anthony mentioned “two years” of discussion with Trail Blazers All-star guard Damian Lilliard. Anthony claims he’s “always kept [his] eye on Portland” and optimistically states that “now seems like the perfect opportunity” to show what he can bring to the team.
However, as he wisely concludes, “it can only work if all parties see it the same way.” Anthony adds that the past is the past and he can only learn from it. Now he’s got a lot of “clarity and understanding.”
We wish him good luck and will watch and see how Anthony will do in Blazers now that he’s back in NBA.
