Carmelo Anthony reveals Tom Brady and Buccaneers comparison LeBron James made in Lakers dressing room
When Carmelo Anthony joined the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason, he got the chance to play with one of his best friends, LeBron James. The Lakers have experienced a mass influx of new talent this season. The same thing happened when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Tom Brady in 2020.
Carmelo Anthony revealed Tuesday that James used Brady's Super Bowl run with the Bucs as motivation for the Lakers. Essentially, if Brady can win a ring with a new cast of teammates around him, so can the Lakers.
New story: Before the season even started, LeBron James told his team the Lakers could be like Tom Brady's Bucs that started rocky and finished strong. Now, at 21-20 at the midpoint of the season, Carmelo Anthony says, "It's a great comparison" es.pn/3nkdpV3
LeBron James uses Tom Brady as motivation for Carmelo Anthony and the Lakers
Carmelo Anthony spoke to the media after the Lakers' practice Tuesday when he divulged James' motivation for the team. He said the Buccaneers' improbable Super Bowl run in their first season under Brady was proof that a team unfamiliar with one another can come together. Anthony said,
"Just from the standpoint of starting off slow and having new guys on the team. New system. Guys trying to figure it out, guys trying to figure out how to play with LeBron and [Anthony Davis] and now incorporating Russ and just now everybody figuring out what their role is. And what made it beautiful for the Bucs is that once it came together, it came together and you saw what happened with that."
James and Anthony Davis are just two of three Lakers players who played together last season. They added Russell Westbrook in hopes of putting them over the top.
Thus far, results have been lacking as they sit in seventh place of the Western conference. But Lakers guard Wayne Ellington is confident they'll grow as a team and elaborated on the Buccaneers as an example of that, saying:
"Everybody was like, 'Oh no!' And all of a sudden, [the Buccaneers} hit a stride at the right time. Ended up winning the whole thing. And that's one of the things I always reach back to, when you see how our season's going so far. And remaining positive and remaining professional, man.
Ellington and Carmelo Anthony will look to use that motivation through the second half of the regular season. But some skeptics like Shannon Sharpe have criticized James for giving his team that advice.
He points out that the Buccaneers' roster is in their prime physically, with Gronkowski and Brady being the exceptions. The Lakers, meanwhile, are the oldest team in the NBA, with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony being 37 years of age.
.@ShannonSharpe on LeBron comparing the Lakers to Tom Brady's 2020 Bucs:
"I don't see the comparison. Do they realize with the exception of Brady and Gronk, everybody is in their prime? No one has overachieved for the Lakers outside of LeBron and Malik Monk." https://t.co/Ib5MMNBVug
The Buccaneers' Super Bowl win in 2020 was one of the most memorable moments in NFL history. Brady changed the trajectory of the Buccaneers, who had gone 12 years without a playoff birth before signing him.
Time will tell whether the Lakers can duplicate that same success. But having the right motivation can go a long way in helping a struggling team. Carmelo Anthony and the Lakers have as good a motivation as possible with James leading the charge.