- Ten-time All-Star joins James Harden and Chris Paul in Houston
- Coach D’Antoni denies tension exists from time in New York
Associated Press
Carmelo Anthony signed a one-year, $2.4m deal with the Houston Rockets on Monday. Anthony was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks last month before the Hawks released him.
The 34-year-old joins a team led by MVP James Harden and star point guard Chris Paul. The Rockets hope the addition of Anthony will help them contend for their first title since 1995. They lost to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals last season despite holding a 3-2 lead at one point in the best-of-seven series.
Anthony will get a fresh start in Houston after spending last season with the Thunder, with whom he averaged a career-low 16.2 points in 78 games. The third overall pick in the 2003 draft has averaged 24.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and three assists in a 15-year career that also included stints with the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks.
Anthony will be reunited in Houston with Mike D’Antoni, who was his coach for a time with the New York Knicks. In 2017, D’Antoni told ESPN that his relationship with Anthony was partly behind his decision to quit as coach of the Knicks.
On Monday, D’Antoni told USA Today he had no problems working with Anthony again. “In New York, when [the Knicks] gave away half the team and everybody expected us to win a championship, it really wasn’t realistic,” D’Antoni said. “It put a lot of pressure on everybody, and it kind of burst the pipes.
“I think this is totally different. We’ve got a team that is a whole bunch of veterans that really, we’ve got one thing in mind, and that’s to win a championship, and we have the possibility.”
D’Antoni has also since worked with Anthony as Team USA’s assistant coach at the 2012 Olympics, where the Americans won gold.
The 6ft 8in Anthony is a 10-time All-Star and has won three gold medals in the Olympics. He is USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
Anthony has averaged more than 20 points every year of his career except last season and led the NBA in scoring in 2012-13, when he averaged 28.7 points a game.