Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Kobe Bryant to assist Lakers pitch
By Josh Hill
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to pitch Carmelo Anthony on Thursday and they’re going to get some help from their star player after all.
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Kobe Bryant was in Europe for most of this atrocious season for the Lakers and he’s been there all summer long as well. But in wake of recent free agent events, it appears he’s putting the brakes on his vacation to return to L.A. and show the Lakers he actually does care about them.
According to Ramona Shelburne from ESPN.com, Kobe Bryant flew in late Wednesday night to help the Lakers with their pitch to Carmelo Anthony on Thursday.
"Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant flew in late Wednesday night from a European vacation so he could play a key part in the team’s pitch to free-agent forward Carmelo Anthony on Thursday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.Bryant has a long history and friendship with Anthony and has been courting him for some time, but he felt it was important to be there when the Lakers made their pitch to him at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles.Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant flew in late Wednesday night from a European vacation so he could play a key part in the team’s pitch to free-agent forward Carmelo Anthony on Thursday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.Bryant has a long history and friendship with Anthony and has been courting him for some time, but he felt it was important to be there when the Lakers made their pitch to him at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles."
This is clearly in response to the way the red carpet was rolled out in Chicago and Houston this week as the Bulls brought out Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose while the Rockets allowed for a ten minute private meeting between Melo, Dwight Howard and James Harden.
Kobe wasn’t expected to be involved in the pitch but you could sort of figure that he’s find a way. He may not care all that much about the Lakers at the moment but Kobe wants to win and he’s taking ownership of the situation to try and get his team a player they need.