Kendrick Perkins has quickly moved into the sphere of NBA internet rumormongering. Perkins, who played 14 years in the league, is friends with several prominent players and has tried to use his stature to wiggle into the news-making game.
That included this week, when Perkins maintained that LeBron James trying to get Carmelo Anthony on the Cleveland Cavaliers but was told no by the team leadership.
Via Twitter
Man Bron told the Cavs he wanted Melo and they Cavs said no to him.
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) August 21, 2019
How do you know Bron haven’t went to the Lakers and told them to sign Melo? I’ve witnessed GMs Tell Bron no several times! Bron tried to get Melo in Cleveland and the Cavs told him no!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) August 21, 2019
It’s not really clear when Perkins is positing that this potential request happened, although it’s likely that it would have come between 2015 and 2017. Anthony requested a trade from the New York Knicks in 2017, winding up with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it took some time to facilitate that trade.
If LeBron knew that Carmelo wanted out of the Big Apple, it’s possible he sent out feelers trying to get his Banana Boat buddy into Ohio. Or perhaps he tried to get him there earlier, before even Kevin Love arrived from the Minnesota Timberwolves?
But alas, we never got the former scoring champ in wine and gold, and now it appears that Anthony can’t even get onto an NBA roster. There’s been rumors about him joining the Los Angeles Lakers with James this season, but that’s also been out of the question as well.
For now, we just have to take the rumor at face value, and wonder what might have been. The Cavaliers won the championship in 2016 against the Golden State Warriors, and who knows how Carmelo’s legacy would look if he was part of that squad.
