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Carmelo on offseason talk with Kobe: 'We both had to come to reality'

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Well, it couldn't possibly have been any worse than where each ended up individually for 2014-15.

Carmelo Anthony shed some light recently on offseason discussions he had with Kobe Bryant about the two superstar friends potentially teaming up. With Anthony an unrestricted free agent, Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers made a late play but were ultimately unable to pry Anthony from the New York Knicks.

To hear Anthony tell it, he and Bryant just didn't see it working out, and their friendship allowed them to admit as much and move in different directions:

They came in at the 25th hour, they swooped in there. It was a great visit. The conversations I had with Kobe was just man to man. We both had to come to reality and say is this what we really want? And it didn’t happen. … We’ve been talking for a long time, man, especially this summer just me and him communicating and talking and being honest with one another as friends and brothers should be. It was a lot going on there on his behalf and my behalf trying to figure everything out.’

It never really seemed as if Anthony, a New York native, was going to bolt given the extra money available from the Knicks, but this is interesting nonetheless. Anthony stayed in New York, where his Knicks are 9-38 and their poor play has many suggesting Anthony be shut down to rest an ailing left knee, while Bryant is out for the season for a 13-34 Lakers squad.

What could have been. Considering they're both dealing with injuries and the Lakers are paper-thin on talent, there's no saying the pairing would have been a short-term success, and Anthony's been firm he trusts the long-term plan in Gotham. At the very least, it's nice to have friends you can be honest with.

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