Ex NBA Player Stephen Jackson Says NBA Is Blackballing Carmelo Anthony – “It Ain’t A Secret”

Ex NBA Player Stephen Jackson Says NBA Is Blackballing Carmelo Anthony – “It Ain’t A Secret”

Former NBA star, Stephen Jackson is sharing his thoughts about the controversy surrounding the absence of Carmelo Anthony in the NBA. In his last season, Carmelo Anthony appeared in just 10 games with the Houston Rockets in 2018 before being shipped in a trade to the Bulls and subsequently waived. Stephen Jackson, who played in the league for over 10 years, addressed players including Carmelo Anthony being blackballed by NBA executives. He says,

“It’s the same situation they did to a lot of players. They put him in a situation they know he’s not going to succeed, make it look like he can’t play no more, make it look like he’s a cancer and just push him out. And once they get you to that point where you’re a cancer or you can’t play no more, it’s a text that’s sent out to every team — it’s a mass text that sent out to every team, every team’s CC’d, ‘Don’t (expletive) with him!’

Stephen Jackson says there’s been a mass text sent out around the NBA that says, “Do not fuck with Carmelo Anthony.” ?#FREEMELO pic.twitter.com/INaa5UdqU3

— CTRL the Narrative (@ctrlnarrative) October 22, 2019

Jackson continues, adding how Carmelo’s free thinking may have led him to be blackballed.

“That’s what happened to A.I. It happened to me. It happened to a lot of guys. And it’s definitely happening to Melo. Melo ain’t a company guy. He’s never been a company guy. He’s going to speak his mind. He’s going to march to the beat of his own drum. And they don’t like that at times. It ain’t no question if anybody today said that Melo is not better than 60 percent of the players in the NBA right now, they’re a damn lie. And it’s personal. Melo definitely belongs in the NBA, and he definitely got blackballed. It ain’t a secret, man.”

In August, the decorated former first round pick from Syracuse, opened up about his short tenor with the Rockets. Anthony said he was shocked when Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey informed him the team was releasing him after only playing 10 games in a Rockets uniform.

“I was surprised by it big time. It went from, ‘Oh, this is a piece we want, this is a piece we need.’ Mind you, we’ve been talking for three years, four years, they were trying to get me to come to the Houston Rockets, and I finally went there. I get there, I’m thinking everything is good. I’m doing everything I’ve got to do – never miss a practice, did all my work, I was real professional with everybody there. I don’t think there’s one person there who can say I wasn’t a professional there. I did what I had to do. I did my work.”

"I didn't like how that went down."

—Carmelo Anthony talks about getting released from the Rockets. pic.twitter.com/OxwyUBl2wd

— First Take (@FirstTake) August 2, 2019

Anthony also explained how he reached out to Rockets front office to negotiate ways to stay a part of the team.

“Then the 10th game came and I just didn’t understand where that came from. I actually reached out to Daryl first, and said, ‘Can we talk about how can we make this better? What can we do to fix this? What can I do to fix this?’ But he already had in his mind that he wanted to come talk to me about releasing me and letting me go, so I didn’t like how that went down.”

While there’s definitely a logical argument to Jackson’s statement on why NBA teams are avoiding the signing of Anthony, his interview may not have helped. Around the same week of his ESPN interview, Anthony reportedly had contacted the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets on the possibility of signing. Since then, no other teams have looked into signing the 10-team NBA All-Star.

Do you believe Carmelo Anthony is being blackballed from the NBA? Let us know in the comments!