During the 2010-11 season, the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were starting to show some signs of slippage. While they held a strong record, they had a habit of going on short winning streaks, only to then lose two, three or four games in a row.
They were often strangely uninspired, and they were losing an alarming number of games to some of the league’s worst teams.
Some new blood was needed, and according to Carmelo Anthony, that winter, the Lakers had a trade agreement in place with the Denver Nuggets, the team he played for at the time, before he was ultimately sent to the New York Knicks.
Denver Nuggets had a deal done to send Carmelo Anthony to the Lakers in 2011😳
"The deal was done with the Lakers. Me and Nenê for Lamar Odom and Bynum. That deal was done. I never thought about New York… When they turned that deal down, now it's like: Oh, y'all don't want me… pic.twitter.com/7z0EeX4Mzo
— BASKETBALL ON 𝕏 (@BasketballOnX) February 20, 2024
Back then, Anthony was one of the game’s greatest scorers, and he seemingly had 1,001 ways to score. He was good friends with Kobe Bryant, and perhaps the two would’ve formed a lethal trio along with Hall of Famer Pau Gasol.
The Lakers ended up getting swept in the second round of the playoffs that year by the Dallas Mavericks. Months later, they attempted to reload by putting together a deal for Chris Paul, only to have it rejected by then-commissioner David Stern, who was the New Orleans Hornets’ acting owner at the time.
As it turned out, Anthony got his chance to suit up for the Purple and Gold years later during the 2021-22 season. However, by then, he was clearly over the hill, and although he quickly became popular among Lakers fans, that season turned out to be his swan song in the NBA.
