Lakers won’t sign Carmelo Anthony due to Jeanie Buss, apparently
By Josh Hill
The Los Angeles Lakers have been rumored to be after Carmelo Anthony for months now but it appears that their interest level in the All-Star isn’t what we thought it was, apparently. While the Lakers seem to be a threat to take Melo away from New York because they’re a big market, a prestigious franchise and lucrative destination, people are starting to point to a seemingly less important reason as to why Melo won’t end up in Los Angeles.
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Marc Berman from there New York Post writes that a supposed reason the Lakers won’t be pursuing Carmelo Anthony the way we thought they might, has to do with the relationship between Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson.
"Meanwhile, the Lakers have cap space but sources maintain they aren’t too interested in Anthony as a fit with Kobe Bryant. Nor is Lakers president Jeanie Buss enthralled with stealing Anthony from Jackson, her fiancé."
This seems really gossipy. What it also really sounds like is collusion and that’s against NBA rules and is a big no-no that if proven could lead to steep penalties for the Lakers and Knicks. The last thing either of those two teams need is more of an uphill battle to get back to where they should be and that’s what would be in store.
However, just because Buss is ‘not enthralled’ with the idea of signing Melo away from Jackson doesn’t mean Buss won’t still try to pry Carmelo Anthony away from her fiancé. The fact of the matter is, the Lakers need to get better and need to do so quickly as to avoid another season in which they are set even further back and getting Melo seems like a decent way to fix things.
That being said, there’s no guarantee he wants to head west, and this whole thing may end up being an overblown footnote to Melo’s offseason decision.