The Los Angeles Lakers have seemingly made it their mission this offseason to collect as many aging All-Stars as possible. Naturally, that has led to skepticism that they don’t have enough youth to contend for an NBA title. Carmelo Anthony does not seem concerned about that.
During an interview with Adam Caparell of Complex, Anthony was asked if he has any thoughts on doubters saying the Lakers are too old. He said the team recognizes that talk as nothing more than debate fodder.
“It’s all about debate. We get it. We understand it,” Anthony said. “This is what you guys have to do. We understand that and we laugh at it and take it with a grain of salt and move on because everybody on the outside have their opinions about it and we’re the ones who know who we are. We know what we have to do. We know how we going to do it. Those are the things we have to deal with.”
Anthony added that he understands the need to increase viewership and ratings, but he said all of that is what would make winning a championship “the fun part.”
Of course, the questions about the average age of the Lakers roster are legitimate. LeBron James is 36 and has battled some injuries over the past two seasons. It’s fair to wonder how long he can continue to dominate. Other players like Anthony, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard are clearly well past their primes. They should be able to contribute as role players, but there is no guarantee of that, either.
Former head coach George Karl already took a shot at the Lakers over their age, and there will be plenty more where that came from. You can expect LeBron and company to use that as motivation. It remains to be seen if the tactic will work.
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