LeBron James hasn’t told the Los Angeles Lakers that they should sign Carmelo Anthony, which is good because they apparently have no interest in doing so.
But the nuance is important here, which is why a report on Thursday that James wanted the Lakers to sign his banana boat friend is, indeed, very different than the reality that the Lakers have no interest. James apparently didn’t ask LA to sign his friend, but reports that he wanted them to did come to light on Thursday.
Los Angeles Times writer Rob Turner reported on Friday that, despite those reports, the Lakers have no interest in doing anything of the sort.
Lakers have no interest in acquiring Carmelo Anthony, per sources. Sources said people want to attach players to Lakers now. Sources said Melo people called Lakers a while back and that LeBron hasn’t talked to Lakers prez Magic Johnson/Rob Pelinka about getting Melo.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) December 7, 2018
Ramona Shelburne echoed the same on Thursday evening:
Can confirm this. Bron hasn't asked Lakers to sign Melo, and that he doesn't intend to. But if Rob/Magic decide that'd be good for the Lakers, the banana boat has been floated apparently. https://t.co/wGRWcSdEQk
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 7, 2018
The problem here is that many feel that Melo has played his last game in the NBA, but he has a lot of good friends who are on teams and think he’s been mistreated by the Rockets, Thunder, Knicks and so on. Having his final act be to get paid by a Rockets team that doesn’t want him isn’t sitting well with many, LeBron included.
But actually going to the Lakers and demanding they sign his friend is a very different thing than floating something in the press and seeing where it lands. Which appears to be what happened here. For what it’s worth, Joe Vardon, who wrote the initial report about James’ wishes on Thursday, tweeted shortly after the report that the Lakers were not interested came out to clarify that, well, something is definitely going on here.
Story has since been confirmed by additional, multiple sources. But you have to read it to get the full picture of what’s going on https://t.co/OQ9HS0oZhw
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) December 7, 2018
What that something is, however, seems unlikely that it ends with Anthony signing in Los Angeles.