Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade — the quartet has been one of the most popular group of friends from the NBA. However, the popularity of the four NBA stars, as a group, came after a photo by Wade’s wife, Gabrielle Union, went viral in 2015. The interesting part of the photo, though? Anthony was never in the photo shared by Gab. But over the years, the story and the term banana boat crew became so popular that fans seemed to have had a Mandela effect on them — believing Melo was on the boat. So the 10x All-Star felt that it was about time to clear up the whole truth.

“Had to clear this one up once and for all 😂,” he wrote while re-sharing the post by Podcast P with Paul George. It is worth mentioning that even though the photo included Paul, LeBron, and Wade, Melo came to be known as a part of the crew because he was also on vacation with the bunch.

Appearing on PG’s podcast, Anthony has now revealed why he was not in the photo despite being on the vacation. The ex-Denver Nuggets star stated Bron, CP, D-Wade, and Gab were already in the Bahamas, and he reached later from New York. “When I get there, I’m on the tender boat. I see the, like… Banana boat,” Carmelo Anthony said. Notably, Wade, Bron, and Melo were friends long before the banana boat crew thing boomed into the media.

It was only natural for them to want Anthony also to join them on the banana boat. “… I’m not on the boat… It’s a picture because the notion of the ‘Banana Boat Crew,’ that s**t hit so hard… And they’re like,’Yo, come on.’ [I say] ‘Nah, no way I’m getting on that with y’all. There’s no way, catch a picture of this. This is crazy,'” the 10x All-Star recalled.

The picture that went viral soon after, wasn’t anticipated by anyone. Chris Paul expressed his amusement on an episode of the Pivot Podcast saying, “We knew paparazzi existed. But in the Bahamas?… But man, that’s crazy what it turned into.” A viral picture or not, the trip was a memorable one for the crew.

Was Carmelo Anthony about to drown on the Bahamas trip?

As mentioned earlier, Melo and Bron were friends long back before the Bahamas trip happened. However, as per another popular story, and multiple media reports, their friendship gained a new depth after the 4x NBA champ potentially saved Anthony’s life. But was Melo’s life really in danger?

The instance is said to be from the time the 10x All Star was taking a swim with his friends. But at one point, Anthony got too far from his boat, to the point he was struggling against the currents. As per the reports, the King wasted no time in jumping into the water to rescue his friend.

However, in an episode of ‘Overtime’, Carmelo Anthony revealed it’s not as if he was actually going to die. “People make it sound like ‘Yo, Melo was on his death bed’… I would have made it back. But it would have been a while because I was fighting the current,” he admitted of the one adventurous trip.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.