“I was building my own shi** in Denver.” Carmelo Anthony has been very honest about not partnering up with LeBron James early in their career. Eventually, during the 2021-22 season, the duo paired up, and it was Melo’s last season in the NBA. So, it does become obvious that the 10x All-Star chose other players over his Banana Boat Crewmate. After all, he spent 19 seasons in the league, and his favorite teammates were the players who he did share teams with multiple times.

“I think out of all the teammates, it would have to be, I would say, it would have to be JR Smith and Kenyon Martin because that’s who was on my team for the longest of all of our years. We was in Denver. We was here in New York.” Carmelo Anthony revealed his favorites during 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. “We spent a lot of time together to the point where it’s like, I don’t even have to look at you, and you know what type of mode I’m in. You know what I’m about to do. You know, you see it ahead of time.”

Smith tops the list of who had shared the court with Carmelo Anthony the most with 536 during his two spells with Melo. Martin too had two spells in Denver and the Nuggets and played 392 games together with Anthony. Martin and Smith both spent nine seasons alongside Melo during their 15-year and 17-year NBA careers, respectively.

Smith would score his career-highest 18.1 points per season when he was playing for the Knicks. Even called Carmelo Anthony “his all-time favorite person” in a 2016 interview. The reason Melo called them their favorites could be because they stuck by his side during the ugly feud.

J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin were not leaving Carmelo Anthony high and dry

It was the year when Matin had already retired, Smith was playing for the Cleveland franchise, and Melo was alone at the Knicks. At least just on the court, because off the court, Smith and Matin made sure to defend Carmelo Anthony. In 2016, their former Nuggets coach released a book, and somehow these three players were painted in a bad light.

In his memoir, Goerge Karl highlighted that Anthony would always need the spotlight and was an overrated player. Apart from that, he also made a personal comment about Martin and Melo and the absence of their fathers in their lives. He even called the trio “AAU Babies.” Anthony was disappointed with the comments but did not diss the former coach. However, Martin and Smith did not mince their words.

Martin made a series of tweets and called his former coach a coward and the worst coach he ever played for. Smith too tweeted and said, “Still trying to be relevant. Sad just sad.” The feud even continues to date with neither side backing down. So that’s why Carmelo Anthony considers them two close, not just because of the games played together but having each other’s back during tough times as well.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host, BG12, sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.