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July 30 (UPI) -- All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who is currently a free agent, wants one more season in the NBA before stepping away from basketball. In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Anthony's trainer, Chris Brickley, said the star forward hopes a team signs him for a final season. Brickley believes "Melo" remains a starting caliber player and belongs on an NBA roster.
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"Yes, given the situation. Allen Iverson, if you remember, he kind of got blackballed," Brickley said. "He got into a situation in his career where teams would be like, 'Oh, he's going to want this role, so we're going to stay away.' I think that's what's going on with Melo right now.
"He's easily better than 60 percent, 70 percent of NBA players walking around. It's just I think teams are afraid of, 'I want to be the star,' or, 'I want this.' That's not the case, though. Melo just wants to have a final season, a farewell season, do what [Dwyane] Wade did. Do the jersey swap. He had a great career, he's a Hall of Famer. So, hopefully that can happen."
Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard supported Anthony's quest for a farewell tour with a series of tweets Monday.
Anthony played 10 games with the Houston Rockets last season before the franchise removed him from the lineup. The Rockets traded him to the Chicago Bulls in January and he was waived shortly later.
League sources told ESPN that the Los Angeles Lakers leaned toward signing Anthony in March. The Lakers bowed out of contract negotiations with the 10-time All-Star after the team dropped out of playoff contention, leaving him unsigned for the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign.
Since entering the NBA in 2003, Anthony has averaged 24 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game with the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Rockets.
