After just 10 games with the Houston Rockets, NBA legend Carmelo Anthony was abruptly exiled from the team with no prior warning. In a conversation on the 'The Why with Dwyane Wade' podcast, Anthony broke down what happened that day and what he did after finding out he was "fired" from the team.
"We're like 3-5 or something [and he said we] need to meet. I think he wanted to meet with me to figure out what’s going on with the team and the players... come to my room and says, 'yeah I think your services are no longer needed,'" Melo said. "So now I’m getting serious and he’s very stoic just like this is what it’s going to be. And I say, 'Damn bro, you don't have a soul man, you don't have a heart. I can take it. But the fact that you came in here and told me we don’t have a place for you on this team and I asked you why and you telling me well it’s just not a fit… what's not going to fit?'"
Anthony's friendship with Chris Paul (his teammate at the time) is well-documented and it's no surprise that he called Chris directly after his meeting with Morey.
"So now, wheels are turning, call CP [Chris Paul]. 'CP, you my family, you my brother, you knew anything about this?' This is real talk, this is one o’clock in the morning," said Anthony. "[He said], 'I swear I ain't.' And to this day I can’t figure out what happened. I don’t know what happened.”
Carmelo Anthony was hardly given a chance in Houston before Morey pulled the plug. After just 10 total games, he sent Anthony home without a second thought and he never looked back. While the Rockets would finish 4th in the West that year, they were no threat to win the title and they severed their relationship with Chris Paul, who would be traded later that summer.
Daryl Morey Is A Ruthless Operator
Daryl Morey is one of the most widely celebrated and well-respected executives in the business. From his days with Harden to taking over "the Process" in Philadelphia, he's always done a good job of putting his teams in a situation to win.
Unfortunately, his ruthless approach to team-building has put him on bad terms with players across the league. Carmelo Anthony is probably the most egregious example, but he's far from the only one. During his tenure with the Rockets, Daryl also made an enemy of Chris Paul, who says that Morey lied to him about not being traded.
There's also the Ben Simmons saga, which was a months-long war between Morey and his disgruntled 76ers star. Ben was the one who asked for a trade, but Morey made things very difficult for the former All-Star as he took his time finding a suitable trade.
Most recently, Morey is famous for betraying James Harden, the one star that he was the closest with. According to Harden, Morey lied to him about his contract offer in the summer of 2023 and then refused to trade Harden for weeks after he requested a trade.
In the case of Carmelo Anthony, he was just the first in a long line of Morey's victims, but he arguably suffered the most from his heartless business practice. Today, with Morey's past transgressions exposed, the 76ers might find it difficult to recruit star players to their team as long as he's the one in charge.
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