{"id":241319,"date":"2025-08-20T12:38:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/241319\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T12:38:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:38:16","slug":"paul-george-says-thunder-had-no-plan-for-carmelo-anthony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/241319\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul George Says Thunder Had \u201cNo Plan\u201d For Carmelo Anthony"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul George Says Thunder Had \u201cNo Plan\u201d For Carmelo Anthony<\/a> originally appeared on Fadeaway World<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paul George<\/a> is setting the record straight on what really went wrong during Carmelo Anthony\u2019s<\/a> short-lived stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on the All the Smoke podcast, George revealed that the team\u2019s struggles weren\u2019t on Melo, but rather on head coach Billy Donovan, who failed to come up with a game plan that included the 10-time All-Star. According to George, Donovan had things mapped out for just two stars, himself and Russell Westbrook<\/a>, and left Anthony to figure things out on the fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelo sacrificed. Melo wasn\u2019t the issue,\u201d said George<\/a>. \u201cBilly had a plan for Russ and I, then right at the last minute, we got Carmelo. So now Billy\u2019s like, \u2018I don\u2019t know how to incorporate him. Y\u2019all were my two guys. Melo\u2019s just gonna have to find his way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn’t long ago when teams were still aspiring to bring stars together and form a Warriors-like dynasty, but the 2017-18 Thunder became an example of how that formula could backfire. That season, despite the top-heavy roster, they went 48-34 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. After the season, Anthony was blamed for the failure and was exiled to the Rockets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Carmelo Anthony is an NBA legend, 10x All-Star, and Hall of Famer<\/a> who made his mark in the mid-2000s and 2010s. After a falling out with then-team President Phil Jackson, he joined the Thunder to form a \u201cbig three\u201d with Paul George and Russell Westbrook. Anthony was only on the Thunder for a brief time (78 games), and it marked the beginning of his drastic decline.<\/p>\n

In seven years with the Knicks, where he averaged 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, Anthony ascended to legendary status, but he was relegated to a minimal role with the Thunder, and his game never recovered. Now, Paul George is saying that it wasn\u2019t entirely his fault.<\/p>\n

He averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game on 40.4% shooting in 32.1 minutes per game. Melo\u2019s biggest struggle was efficiency, and he never looked as comfortable within OKC\u2019s offense as he did during his Knicks<\/a> prime.<\/p>\n

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According to George and Anthony himself<\/a>, the coaching staff never properly utilized his game, nor did they help him find his fit. Head coach Bill Donovan restricted his freedom and had him playing more as a spot-shooter than as a proper star and NBA veteran.<\/p>\n

Similar issues have plagued other \u201csuperteams\u201d before<\/a>, but the inefficiency was enough to tear that Thunder squad apart. George and Westbrook continued their partnership for another season, and it was years before Anthony was able to properly redeem himself.<\/p>\n

For Carmelo Anthony, the 2017-18 season was the beginning of an unfair narrative: that he couldn\u2019t adapt, wouldn\u2019t sacrifice, or wasn\u2019t built to thrive as a role player. But if Paul George\u2019s story is true, Anthony never had the chance to prove himself in the first place. With no clear plan and little structural support, he was fighting an uphill battle from the start.<\/p>\n

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More than just a reflection on the Thunder, George\u2019s comments highlight a broader issue in the NBA: how coaching staffs handle star integrations and expectations. Big names don\u2019t guarantee big wins, and without proper roles, chemistry, and accountability, even the most talented rosters can crumble. In Melo\u2019s case, the blame may have fallen on the wrong shoulders all along.<\/p>\n

Related: Stephen A. Smith: Carmelo Anthony Would Win A Title If He Were Drafted By The Pistons<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World<\/a> on Aug 20, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul George Says Thunder Had \u201cNo Plan\u201d For Carmelo Anthony originally appeared on Fadeaway World. Paul George is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,3363,3628,304,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,526,3838,254,312,11428],"class_list":{"0":"post-241319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-billy-donovan","10":"tag-carmelo-anthony","11":"tag-knicks","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-oklahoma","14":"tag-oklahoma-city","15":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","16":"tag-oklahomacity","17":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","18":"tag-paul-george","19":"tag-phil-jackson","20":"tag-russell-westbrook","21":"tag-thunder","22":"tag-thunder-squad"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115061136001494802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}