Hall of Fame NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony would eventually get the chance to play with his close friend LeBron James during the 2021-22 season on the Los Angeles Lakers, his last in the league before retiring, but an on-court partnership could have developed much earlier had Anthony said "yes."
Everyone knows the story: James left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat in 2010, linking up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form the league's top Big 3, and one of the most dominant Big 3's the NBA has ever seen.
Together, they led the Heat to four consecutive finals runs, winning back-to-back championships in the middle. It was a short-lived era of James, Wade, and Bosh, but it could have included Anthony as well, and it turns out his decision not to join them had much to do with the Denver Nuggets, among other reasons, and he missed a golden opportunity in the process.
Carmelo Anthony explains why joining the Miami Heat Big 3 wasn't the right decision for him
Anthony retired with many great accolades and individual accomplishments. He was a 10 NBA All-Star, a six-time All-NBA team member, and the 2013 NBA scoring king. On top of that, Anthony had plenty of international success for Team USA throughout his career. All that was missing was an NBA title, and he never reached that far.
Had he left the Denver Nuggets to join up with James, Wade, and Bosh in Miami, it's very likely the Heat still would have won their two titles, but it could also have changed the outcomes of the two years they lost in the finals. Anthony was at the height of his game: a pure scoring machine, and the Heat would have unquestionably had an even larger advantage with him on the court during those four years.
This never happened, though, and on a recent podcast, Anthony explained why he turned down the thought of going to Miami to play with James and the others.
“One of them had to take like 16M and the other one 17M…all of them really had to sacrifice — which I tip my hat off to them for doing that," Anthony explained. "So when they got together, it just made everyone like ‘oh sh*t, Melo you could’ve been the 4th one.’…imagine me at 23-24 years old being the 4th option on the team when I’m leading my team every single year…and you want me to leave that and be a 4th option?…LeBron is an alpha, D-Wade is an alpha, nobody gives Chris Bosh enough credit — Bosh was ridiculous in Toronto…I can’t be that 4th option — hell no….that was always a 'what if' in Miami…”
A big 'what if' in NBA history
Yes, Anthony would have been the fourth wheel, but what a fourth wheel he would have been; that's almost undeniable even without knowing what could have been. But there was more to it, as he explained, leaving Anthony feeling that Miami wasn't the best destination because it would have taken him away from Denver, and he wasn't ready to leave the Nuggets just yet.
The 'what if's' will follow that particular Heat era forever, as they will follow James, because he chose to leave the Heat to go back home to Cleveland while the Heat were ready to compete for many more years. What might have been different had Anthony joined them, leading the Heat to possibly win that fourth year's title? Would a third consecutive title have convinced James to remain in Miami?
Of course, Anthony would depart from Denver not long after James and Bosh headed to Miami after demanding a trade that would eventually land him with the New York Knicks. Perhaps Anthony would have been better off in Miami, after all.
However, like the Heat's Big 3 led by James, we'll never know what could have happened with Anthony's career had he chosen differently. In any case, and something that will never be taken from him, Anthony went to the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so. His career was too great to be left out, an NBA championship in tow, or not.
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