When he joined the Lakers, Carmelo Anthony knew he’d be coming off the bench, just like he did last season with the Trail Blazers. Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times wonders if Anthony might be a candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award this season.
For his part, Anthony is more focused on team success than individual accolades at this point in his career.
“[It’s] understanding what I have to do in those roles in order to help this team,” Anthony said. “So, in my mind, it’s not about winning the sixth man of the year award. It’s about being the best sixth man for our team, if that’s the case. Knowing that, I have something to look forward to night in and night out, knowing that I got to come in fully prepared and ready to go.”
“I think having that mentality kind of forces you or pushes you to play at a high level every night. Right?” Anthony said. “And not look in front of you or besides you and say, ‘I got so-and-so, I got this, I got that, I got that.‘”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Lakers assistant coach David Fizdale is back home in Los Angeles and happy to be there, according to Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register.
- Avery Bradley, whom the Lakers claimed off waivers, recently opened up to Bill Oram of The Athletic about missing the team’s title run during the 2019-20 season. Bradley wanted to be with the Lakers, but chose to opt out of the bubble to protect his son, who had a severe case of pneumonia in 2019. “We play this game for our family,” Bradley said. “Of course I love the game of basketball. That’s how I take care of my family is this game. It would be backwards if I didn’t focus on my family first.” The interview is worth reading in full.
- The Warriors‘ Bob Myers recently stated that Golden State tried to trade for free-agent acquisition Nemanja Bjelica last season, writes Alex Didion of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We tried to trade for him a few times last year and just couldn’t find the right deal for them [Kings] and us, and then he got moved to Miami and never really got a foothold there,” Myers said Thursday morning on 95.7 The Game. “We’ve always liked him because we thought he could fit what we do, which is what you guys see, it’s a lot of read and react stuff, lot of randomness.“
More must-reads: