Carmelo Anthony Disputes Notion That He Doesn't Want to Play with Kobe Bryant

Carmelo Anthony may ultimately have spurned the Los Angeles Lakers during his foray into free agency this offseason, choosing to re-sign with the New York Knicks rather than move across the country and throw on a purple-and-gold uniform. However, his decision didn't have to do with avoiding Kobe Bryant. 

"If I thought that was the right situation for me from an overall perspective as far as having a team there, then I would have looked at that situation more in-depth," the oft-shooting forward told ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne and Ohm Youngmisuk. "I just felt more comfortable staying here in New York. But as far as playing with him...I'm here now but I would always love to play with Kobe."

The justification is only necessary because of an ESPN the Magazine piece on Bryant, one that sparked up plenty of conversations after anonymous inside figures were quoted as saying the superstar shooting guard was driving away potential free-agent signings. 

"Mitch [Kupchak] did his homework," an unnamed NBA executive told Henry Abbott for that article. "He can't get a marquee player to play alongside Kobe, cap space be damned." 

And how about this one from a source close to Lakers decision-makers: 

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He wants to win. But only as long as he's the reason we're winning, as long as the performance is not affecting his numbers. No one works harder than Kobe. And no one sabotages his own efforts more. He's scaring off the free agents we're trying to get. We're trying to surround you with talent and your ego is getting in the way.

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The piece led to quite a few rebuttals from central figures and journalists around the basketball-watching world. Even Phil Jackson, who coached Bryant during his three-peat runs and is now working in the New York front office that re-signed Anthony, is getting involved:

Now, Anthony is the latest to explain that his decision had other motivating factors, ones like the Knicks being a better fit for him. And while he won't directly say it, the five-year, $124 million contract he signed probably had quite a bit to do with his choice as well. 

"The Lakers were the only other team to offer Anthony a full maximum-level contract," Shelburne and Youngmisuk explain. "Due to the rules of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, their offer could only be for four years and $95 million—one year and $29 million less than the Knicks signed Anthony to."

There were just other factors, as Sean Highkin detailed for NBC Sports: 

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Indeed, it's hard to pin Anthony's decision on Bryant. Signing with the Lakers never really made sense for him, and all along it seemed like he let them make their pitch more as a courtesy than out of any serious intention of going there. The two most viable contenders in the Melo sweepstakes both offered something the Lakers couldn't. The Bulls had the best roster and the clearest path to immediate contention for a championship out of any of the teams vying for his services. The Knicks could offer him more money than anyone else, as well as a fifth year on his contract and long-term security for his family. The Lakers, coming off a disappointing year and figuring to be a lottery team again this season, could offer neither. Melo chose the money, and it's hard to blame him for it.

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Maybe Anthony wanted to play with Bryant, and nothing else about the situation in Tinseltown made sense for him. Maybe he wasn't completely sold on sharing the rock with another shot-happy superstar, and that factored into his decision. Maybe he didn't want to play with Anthony, purely for basketball reasons. 

But the notion that Bryant drove off Anthony and scared him away from choosing the Lakers as the next location for his basketball talents? 

The Knicks star won't agree with that.