Carmelo Anthony initially was resistant to the idea of a buyout to become a free agent.
"To get bought out, to get waived, you were looked at like, you're done," said Anthony. "Now, it's just almost like the norm. If something doesn't work, go ahead and get a buyout or go ahead and get traded. That's the new norm in our society in basketball. I had to get over that.
"I had a conversation with my wife and family. I said to them, I'm not taking no buyout. I'm not getting waived. And they said, at the end of the day, nobody is going to know that. You have to do what you have to do. It's going to be a blip on your radar. It's on to the next chapter. It took me a while to get to that point where I'm like, OK, I'm going to accept it."
Anthony said ultimately things didn't work out with the Oklahoma City Thunder because of timing.
"At the end of the day, it wasn't a good fit," he said. "I think last year -- and I haven't talked about this before -- everything was just so rushed, going to the team for media day and the day before training camp. Them guys already had something in place, and then I come along in the 25th hour like, oh s---, Melo just come on and join us. Like, you can figure it out since you've been around the game for a long time. That's why it was so inconsistent. At times, I had to figure it out on my own rather than somebody over there or people over there helping me."
Anthony is expected to sign with the Houston Rockets.
"I think winning, at the end of the day, rewrites everything," he said. "It settles everything. I also look back at this past year. When we were winning, the story was written already. When we started losing, the story is written. It's almost premeditated. I'm playing ball. I'm happy. I'm excited about what's to come, wherever that may be."
Via Jemele Hill/ESPN
