The Big 3 of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James dominated the league by 4 back-to-back finals and won 2 championships. There was a possibility of LeBron’s and Wade’s Banana Boat Club member Carmelo Anthony joining them. Although the move never materialized, the “what if” scenario was recently addressed by Melo. So, what did the 10x NBA All-Star have to say?

When the possibility of joining Wade and LeBron came up, Melo was with the Nuggets, finding himself in the playoffs every year and winning 50-plus games. Happy with the team’s performance, Melo did not want to leave the team to go do something that might cause him potential regret down the line.

“We got new powder blue uniforms, we popping out here…And also at that time, I wasn’t ready to go partner, team up with nobody. Because I was building my own shi** in Denver. So to leave my own sh** and go team up with somebody it wouldn’t have worked,” Anthony said, via the Podcast P with Paul George.

Anthony further explained that all of them were young at the time, and having them on the same roster wouldn’t have worked out like many envisioned. Anthony further didn’t deem fit to leave whatever he had established at a young age in the Nuggets and move to a different franchise, saying, “We all was at the top of the game.”

As per Anthony, being the fourth option wasn’t exactly something that he preferred mentally as he wouldn’t have been able to find his rhythm since he was the star player for the Nuggets. However, the decision of Anthony to pick the Nuggets was not well-received.

People ridiculed Carmelo Anthony for not joining up with Big3

Melo stated that the reason he came across the most after his decision was that he was not ready to take a pay cut. Back in 2006, Anthony signed a four-year deal with an $80 million contract with a fifth-year option as opposed to the Big 3, who had signed a three-year deal. A three-year deal meant less money in comparison to a four-year deal.

Shedding light on the criticism he received, Melo said, “Melo was selfish, so he took five years. He took the money.” But, for Melo, it was more about building on what he had achieved in the Nuggets. However, it was not a long stay at Nuggets for Melo as with the management rebuilding the team, he ended up getting traded to the New York Knicks.

Melo, who was young at the time, was not ready to sacrifice, and looking back at it now, the 40-year-old shares no regret. According to him, the “what-if” scenario felt good to talk about, but several factors behind the scenes were in play. And mentally he was not sure if the plan would actually work.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us in 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.