On the day he learned that the Lakers would not renew his contract, Cameron Anthony couldn't sleep, he lay in bed with his eyes closed, and he felt like he was in a lonely boat. Which direction to float? Hanging in the balance.
But the next day, Anthony returned to the gym to continue honing catch-and-shoot and mid-range jumpers. From moving to Baltimore at age 8 and thoroughly hooked on basketball, that's what Anthony does almost every day. Keep training and always be ready.
Anthony had been waiting for nearly a year, but couldn't wait for the call. Without a team offering him a contract, Anthony inevitably faces the same question that every professional player faces: how to face the day of retirement when he gets older?
Anthony certainly had moments of fear, but late on the night of May 22, Beijing time, Anthony was relieved, and he officially announced his retirement to end his career.
Anthony's career didn't have a fairytale ending, and he didn't even sign a one-day contract with the Knicks or Nuggets to walk a ritual. When Anthony said he was going to pass the torch to his son Kiyon Anthony, trying to send Keyon, who had already received scholarships from 11 schools, to the NBA, it meant that Anthony had found a new value in life.
survivor
When Anthony was 8 years old, he moved with his family from Brooklyn to Baltimore, where the Robert C. Marshall Arena was Anthony's refuge.
"I love the court, I like the smell of the stadium, the sound of the basketball touching the floor and the feeling of scoring goals, I love that." Anthony said basketball took over his heart when he was 8 years old.
Shootings were taking place every day on the streets of Baltimore, and Anthony described himself as a "survivor," having seen countless brawls, shootings, and drug dealings. Over time, Anthony has become immune to these.
"I mean, I've been through shootouts, that's the everyday environment in which I live, that's what I've grown up in. Growing up, nothing is certain. You will face bad days, bad moments, or bad things happening to you and bad things around you. You have to adapt to these things. There is no time to hang your head, you have to stick to it. ”
The poor growth environment forged Anthony's willpower, and many people criticized Anthony's gangster atmosphere, but in Anthony's view, he could not have such strong willpower without those past experiences.
"Because I'm used to the worst happening, I'm always ready for the worst. Without those experiences, I wouldn't have had the ability to recover quickly from frustration, I would definitely be lost, and I wouldn't have been able to bounce back quickly after going through hardship. ”
Ball Boss Stigma
Anthony's high school and college career was extremely successful, and he had a bright relationship with LeBron James. After entering the NBA, Anthony became a super scoring killer, and Warriors star Draymond Green even said that even if Anthony only won 1 scoring title is not as good as Durant, Anthony at his peak is still a more terrible scorer than Durant.
However, basketball is not only about scoring, Anthony can score, but lack of leadership is a weakness, in the Nuggets and Knicks, he has always been inseparable from the stigma of "ball bully".
"He's the best attacking player I've coached, but he's obsessed with the spotlight and doesn't like people sharing it with him. He has low defensive requirements for himself, and he is not willing to do the dirty work of defending opponents. Every coach wants the team's best player to be the leader, but Anthony is only willing to work on the offensive end, and he obviously can't lead the Nuggets, even if he says he wants to. Anthony is extremely talented, and if he had decided to become the league's rebounding king or the best defender in his position, he could have done it. Former Nuggets coach George Carr said.
Later, Anthony made a trade, and he was eventually sent to the Knicks. Speaking about Anthony's deal, Carr said: "I wish he would have worked harder on the defensive end, but he didn't, his offensive ability made him a star, but not a winner, I pointed that to him, but he didn't like it. ”
After joining his hometown team Knicks, Anthony's reputation has not improved. In the 2013 playoffs, Tyson Chandler publicly criticized Anthony for not being willing to make sacrifices for the benefit of the team and not being willing to pass the ball, believing that Anthony was too pursuing his own shots.
After "Lin Madness" swept New York, Anthony's status was hit, and Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, another core Stoudemire Jr., have publicly stated that Anthony is unwilling to adapt to Jeremy Lin's style of play. Although Anthony denies this statement, his impression of "ball bully" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Unemployment and return
In a person's life, there are some subtle things that may not be worth writing about at the time, but they are of great importance. After the passage of time, looking back at its causal relationship, we find that the magnitude of its impact is amazing.
In the first round of the 2018 playoffs, the Thunder were eliminated by the Jazz. In his post-match press conference, Anthony categorically stated in the interview that he would never sacrifice to play as a substitute, and he believed that playing a substitute role would not make him a more efficient player.
When Anthony said this, it did not make too many waves, after all, Anthony at that time gave football rights and still played good statistics. However, his statement made Thunder determined to send him away, and it also directly determined Anthony's bumpy fate for more than a year.
The Thunder sent Anthony to the Hawks, who subsequently laid him off. Anthony, who joined the Rockets as a free agent, was originally going for a championship because there were James Harden and Chris Paul. But after only 10 games, Anthony was notified by the Rockets, who deemed the two sides unsuitable, and sent Anthony to the Bulls, who were subsequently laid off by the Bulls.
Anthony believes that the Rockets did not give him enough respect and did not use him tactically properly, but in essence, Anthony lost his job because he still resisted accepting the bench role, transitioned to playing more offense without the ball, and he still wanted to attack with the ball as he did in his prime. The problem is that times are changing, and Anthony's mid-range offensive style of play is too inefficient, and his three-point shooting rate is only 35.7% during the Thunder and 32.8% in 10 games with the Rockets.
For 375 days, Anthony was without the ball, the darkest moment of his basketball career.
"I asked myself, why me? There are so many people in the world, why am I going through this? "During that time, Anthony lived in self-doubt." Most of us face the defining moment early in their career, and mine comes from the 16th year of my career. ”
At this point, the experience forced Anthony to enlighten.
In November 2019, Anthony received a call from Neil Orsey, president of operations for basketball operations for the Trail Blazers, who admitted that the call changed everything.
The Blazers forward at the time was plagued by injuries, and the Blazers thought of Anthony when they were unavailable. And for Anthony, going to be able to play directly as a starter is also something that attracts him. In 2019-20, Anthony started all 58 games with the Trail Blazers, averaging 15.4 points per game and shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range. That season, Anthony was already showing signs of transitioning, but he hadn't let go of his ego yet.
In the 2020-21 season, Anthony proved with practical actions that he completely let go of his ego. Nurkic took the start, Covington played the starting power forward, Derek Jones played the starting small forward, and Anthony accepted the role of substitute. In several interviews, Anthony said he had completely put aside his ego and didn't care whether he was a starter or a substitute.
Anthony has also changed significantly in his style of play, with 23.5% of his shots being fixed-point shots. With the double gun, Anthony developed a better catch-and-shoot ability, ranking 105th out of 195 players who made at least 2,000 shots, but 39th with 1.058 points per opportunity. Throughout the season, Anthony shot 40.9 percent from three-point range.
In one and a half seasons with the Blazers, Anthony's career total gradually approached the top 10 all-time, and he completed the surpass of Ingris, Garnett, Havlicek, Pierce, Duncan, Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Olajuwon, and Erwin Hayes to rise to 10th all-time.
On May 4, 2021, Anthony reached a milestone in the Blazers' road game against the Hawks, scoring 14 points and moving his regular-season career total beyond Hayes to 10th all-time. After the game, Blazers coach Terry Stotts gave the game ball to Anthony as a memorial, and Anthony gave a moving speech.
Anthony said: "Two years ago, I didn't think I could still go through this moment. At that time, for whatever reason, I was unemployed. But now I'm back, I'm always going on, staying strong, I'm true to myself and now I'm in the top 10 of the all-time scoring list. ”
The ultimate transformation
In the summer of 2021, Anthony received a call from his friend James. James told Anthony that the Lakers needed an elite-level catch-and-shoot like him. This time, Anthony, who had rejected James, chose to agree.
Last season, Anthony completed the ultimate transformation with the Lakers, averaging 25.9 minutes per game as a backup, reducing the number of singles per 100 rounds to 1.5 from 4.6 in the previous season, 3.5 at the low level of 100 rounds, and 1.2 in blocking and holding the ball in 100 rounds. Anthony's offensive percentage of possessions plummeted, but his 6.3 shots from 100 rounds were the highest since the 2015-16 season.
Anthony has improved his style of play and shooting selection, and his offensive efficiency has improved. Lakers general manager Pelinka said Anthony is one of the league's strongest catch-and-shoot players in recent years. Spurs coach Popovich lamented that Anthony is the kind of player who can always cause problems for opponents. James said: "He's a sniper, he doesn't need much shooting space at all, he shoots fast. ”
Anthony was a rare highlight in the Lakers' chaotic season, and he played well in many games. For example, playing the Hornets on November 9, 2021, Anthony hit a key three-point shot in overtime and shot his opponent with seven three-pointers. That season, the Lakers won all seven games in which Anthony scored at least 23 points in a single game.
Anthony attacked the city on the field and put out fires off the field. Throughout the season, the Lakers had problems. When Wei Shao was abandoned by Vogel at a critical moment and became the focus, Anthony comforted Wei Shao in the tone of a person who came over and advised him not to drill into the horns. When Vogel was involved in the end-of-school crisis and everyone else remained silent, it was Anthony who stepped forward to speak for Vogel, arguing that the coach was not to blame for the team's poor record.
One Lakers insider praised Anthony as the "ultimate veteran" who completely got rid of the negative comments of the past.
On October 25, 2022, in the Lakers and Grizzlies, Anthony surpassed Moses Malone in career points and rose to 9th all-time. When he finishes the 2022-23 season, he is only 308 points away from surpassing O'Neal to move up to 8th all-time, and he is 1711 points away from becoming the eighth 30,000 point man in history. Unfortunately, Anthony did not get the opportunity to hit these two milestones.
Regrets and gains
Anthony had two chances to win the championship in his career, and in 2003 the Pistons promised to pick Anthony with the top picks, but eventually selected Milicic. In 2019, James recruited Anthony to join the Lakers, but Anthony refused. In those two seasons, both the Pistons and the Lakers won championships.
For Anthony, going without a championship in his career is an absolute regret, which directly affects his historical status. But after going through life's ups and downs, Anthony has learned to be open-minded, and he knows that some experiences may not be good, but they are after all. Experienced, experienced, there is nothing to regret.
Anthony was acutely aware that the tide would eventually fade, but he didn't want to run to the end of a bench where a strong team sat and mixed up a ring. He wants to be himself more relaxed than seemingly accessible fame and fortune. So when it was time to retire, Anthony accepted it.
In 2020, Anthony was asked a question in an exclusive interview: If he had to say a few words to young Anthony, what would he say.
"Go through everything, go through those wonderful moments and life journeys, and open your heart. To start your own journey, to experience everything yourself, instead of relying on others or listening to others tell you what to do, everyone should have their own experience. ”
On the day Anthony retired, when he entered the next stage of his life as a "ball daddy", this was also his message to Kiyan.