This off-season veteran forward Carmelo Anthony decided to part ways with the Portland Trail Blazers and team up with long-time friend LeBron James in Los Angeles.
While there were likely several understandable factors that went into that decision, one thing that has to be pondered is Billups’s role in all of this.
To put it gently, the two have a history of conflict that dates all the way back to 2011. At that time, both Melo and the new head coach of the Blazers were teammates on the Denver Nuggets. Billups loved playing for the Nuggets. In fact, he was from the area and relished playing the role of the hometown hero.
Despite him growing up as a fan of the team and having previously won a ring with the Detroit Pistons, it was an undisputed fact that it was then young phenom Carmelo Anthony’s team.
However, Anthony craved the idea of being a hometown hero as well and made his intentions clear during the 2010-2011 NBA season that he wanted out. His top choice being his hometown New York Knicks.
That trade came to fruition on February 22nd, 2011, when the Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were traded to the Knicks in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, a 2014 first-round pick, and 2016 first-round pick swap (turned into Jamal Murray).
Around that time, Anthony went onto Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast to explain the thought process that led to him demanding a trade.
"“We just came off a [trip to the] Western Conference Finals. I don’t want to rebuild in my seventh season in the NBA,” Anthony said. “So, [I told them] if you guys want to rebuild, it’s cool, but let’s work something out.”"
The move crushed Billups, who was only included in the trade for the Nuggets to match salaries with the Knicks. However, he was more than candid during his debut interview at Madison Square Garden, clarifying his internal emotions.
"“Oh it was hard, hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Billup said. “I had to tell my girls that daddy was traded, that he was leaving to play across the country. I told them it wasn’t my choice, that nothing could be done about it. I had to go. It wasn’t a happy scene.”"
This devastation and animosity have festered on Billups’ end over the last decade, and he has been terribly afraid to show it. In a conversation with Sirius XM NBA Radio in Las Vegas back in 2019.
"“Scoring 30 meant too much Melo,” said Billups. “It meant too much because he could have games where he had 20, 22 [points], we win the game and he’s mad. He might have 36 and he’s in there, you know, we lose the game and he’s in there picking everybody up.”"
But the criticism did not stop there, as, at that time, Anthony was a free agent and tried to justify why teams were right to try and avoid him.
"“I think you look, fast forward the tape, and [look at the] reason why he’s not in the league,” Billups said. “He’s still worthy, [but] he hasn’t mentally taken that step back to say, ‘OK, I’ll come in and play against back-ups. I’ll try and help the team out. I know I might not be able to close, but I just want to help.’ Well, he’s not there yet.”"
As all Blazers fans know, Melo clearly proved him wrong in every which way. He proved he was willing to take a pay cut, and he proved he was willing to come in as the fourth scoring option. He, later on, proved he was willing to come off the bench and not close every single game. The best part was that he did it all at an efficient level, producing some of the most efficient three-point shooting in his career.
Who can blame Anthony for not wanting to suit up for somebody who has taken every opportunity to criticize him at the highest of highs and the lowest of lows? Whether that criticism was justified or not. It’s tough to tell what other variables could have come into play with his departure.
Did Olshey even offer him a contract? Did he really want to play with LeBron? Does he prefer life in LA to life in Portland? And as we’ve discussed, did he not agree with the team’s decision to hire Chauncey Billups as head coach?
The reality is it was probably a combination of all of the above. But regardless, even though Melo will not see #00 in the rafters, he is forever tied to Portland in only positive ways.