Carmelo Anthony was furious when the Knicks added two key pieces to the Cavaliers in the 2014-2015 NBA season.
The squad brought in Knicks duo Iman Shumpert and JR Smith midway through the season, a decision that left Melo in turmoil.
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The 10-time All-Star recently hosted his former teammate Shumpert 7 p.m. on the Brooklyn Podcastwhere he revealed his reaction when he first heard the news of the trade.
“F*** her,” Anthony said. “I said to 'Bron, 'That's what we're doing?' When it happened all I could think of was, “Bron, I know this is a chess game, I gotta get these guys away from him.” Shit up there, I could use Shump and JR to win a championship.
“All you hear in this room is boom, boom, splashing water,” Shumpert replied.
“That’s why I was so freaked out in the locker room. Because I thought, 'You're not touching this core here.' I don't give a fuck what you do. I said, “Yo, you can’t tell me anything. Do you know what the hell you did?” Do you send them to him? We want to take action against it. 'I don't give a shit.'”
The decision effectively marked the end of the Knicks' competitiveness in the Eastern Conference for at least several years.
To be fair, they were already on the rise at that point, which is why former team president Phil Jackson decided to free up cap space and trade Shumpert and Smith to target free agents as part of a rebuild the following year could.
The Knicks immediately fell off a cliff following their elimination, finishing the season with a dismal 17-65 record – second-worst in the league – after an injury to Anthony sidelined the Knicks star for the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, the Cavs continued to get stronger.
They made their way through the Eastern Conference and eventually made it to 2015 They were superior in the final and the .
However, Cleveland bounced back the following year, with Shumpert and Smith serving as key players throughout the regular season and playoffs – Shump on defense and JR on offense.
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LeBron and the Cavs made it to the 2016 NBA Finals in a rematch with Golden State, but quickly found themselves in a 1-3 hole.
Then “King James” donned his Superman cape, scoring, assisting and blocking at a ridiculous rate to lead the Cavs to a seven-game series win and the organization’s first-ever World Championship.
It was the first time in NBA history that a team came back from a 3-1 deficit to reach the Finals, making the Knicks' decision to send two key players to the champion Cavs all the more egregious.
Shumpert is one of the few players to have played alongside Melo and LeBron throughout his career.
During his appearance on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, he reflected on his game against Carmelo Anthony with the Cavaliers.
He said, “I'm kind of trying to process something like, damn brother.” [guy] and Bron are kind of arch enemies, you know what I mean? It's like they're like everyone's comic book right now. Why the hell, why do I have to be there?”
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Shumpert also explained the differences between the two, who were part of both the 2003 NBA draft and the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
“With Melo, he will immediately recognize your weakness. He will know it 100 percent and always keep it in his pocket to use it when he needs it. “LeBron is going to get to where you can’t even play. “You can’t even be on the floor right now because we’re going to expose it,” Shum explained.
Shumpert returned to the Finals with the Cavs in 2017 and 2018, but lost both times to the newly minted Warriors .
He left Cleveland in 2018 for the Sacramento Kings before moving to the Rockets in 2019 and ending his career with the Nets in 2021.
Anthony finally got to play alongside his good friend LeBron.
He joined the Lakers for the 2021-22 season in hopes of finally winning a championship ring. Coming off the bench primarily for the purple and gold accolades, Melo ultimately failed in his quest for a title that only lasted a year in Hollywood.
Carmelo lost his contract the following year and announced his retirement from basketball in 2023.
