He’s going to play through it, take it one day at a time, and hopefully he can play for another year or two after this. Your privacy is safe with us. It was one of the worst fits for him from a scheme standpoint. Following the Portland Trail Blazers’ elimination from postseason play at the hands of the L.A. Lakers, Carmelo Anthony said he was “praying” he would be back with the team next season. SB: How’d you structure Melo’s workouts from the time he knew he was going to the Blazers until his debut? Not that he was taking a basketball position equivalent to today’s minimum wage workers. Just try get the rhythm back into it and enjoy playing again, because he’s missed it. He hasn’t played for a year. The Blazers wanted to feature him with a big role in their offense. But these aren’t sentiments written about stars after a bad game or two. Everyone’s going to be like ‘Oh he needs to score 20 every time he comes out.’. 3 and No. And even though those the Portland Trail Blazers may have had a difficult time winning, a more widespread celebration of their saga could have come about. He came up to LA. Anthony even went as far as to go on First Take and practically plead with live viewers for a job in the NBA. The (now) 35-year old forward hit what seemed like strictly clutch shots for the Trail Blazers, with their most common fourth quarter scheme being a find to him in the corner for three. pic.twitter.com/ucTnLBvKtE, — Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) December 12, 2019. But what about players exiled from the Association altogether, or written off as shells of themselves? That’s when the stars aligned, and the Portland Trail Blazers injury woes came head to head with Anthony’s desire to get back on the floor. In early January, Anthony knocked down a game-winning shot in a routing of the Toronto Raptors. In Houston, he just didn’t fit. 5 SHARE PICTURE. SB Nation NFL expert picks, Week 3: Who wins the Injury Bowl? Build your custom FanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis on Portland Trail Blazers and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. We worked on a lot of defense over the summer. And he might need to consider the idea that nobody will reach that point again. Portland was rewarded with both a starting power forward and the positive publicity that was being the only team to risk bringing Anthony back to the world of the NBA. How Carmelo Anthony made his NBA comeback, explained by his trainer, Jamal Murray’s pass to beat the Lakers was his best play of the night. That was another conversation, the human element of everyone wanting him to play the Rockets on Monday. That’s quite the statement season for someone who should’ve never been doubted or denied, to begin with. Yes, Anthony ended his 17th season going head-to-head with James in a game that was far closer than it should have been. We'll never pass along your email address to spammers, scammers, or the like. SB: What expectations did you and Melo set out for his first few games?