How Carmelo got hit by a culture shock when playing with younger guys on the Blazers: “I look at Dame, and he like, ‘s**t different now’"

There was a time when Carmelo Anthony was out of the league after getting waived by the Chicago Bulls. He was away from any NBA team for nearly a year because his reputation took a hit, but Damian Lillard recruited him to join the Portland Trail Blazers when they needed a forward.

Melo answered the call and joined the Blazers in November 2019 on a one-year non-guaranteed deal. It turned out to be one of Melo’s best decisions because he would become a regular rotation member under Coach Terry Stotts and was a trusted member of the leader’s circle alongside Dame and CJ McCollum.

Since Anthony was a veteran leader for the Blazers, he got to see some of the younger players on the team and saw the differences between the locker room environment when he was younger and the current environment.

“I learned that. I remember when I first came back into the league after Houston. I go in the locker room and I’m like before the game, I’m locked in. They’re all on their phones,” Melo said on the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast. “Half-time came, they were on their phones. I look at Dame, and he like, ‘Sh*t different now.’”

A massive change from what Melo’s experiences

When Anthony was younger, mobile phones were available but not as advanced as today’s smartphones. Social media was not a thing just yet, which meant the players were more focused on interacting with each other in the locker room.

It is probably jarring for any older player to enter a locker room like that because they can see teammates checking their phones at half-time. From what Carmelo said, Dame did not like it, so having a veteran like Melo in the locker room could have led to some changes.

Unfortunately, current Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was the one who enacted some changes when he caught a young player posting a dunk highlight during half-time when they were down by a lot of points.

“We in the room, we’re down like 18 in the half. I had a kid, he had a nasty dunk. We coming out for the third quarter, this m**********r done posted his dunk on his joint at half-time,” Billups said to Melo. “I grinded his a** up, man. I get wind of it, I said ‘Ayo bro, get the f**k back there and take that shit down, what the f**k wrong with you?’”

Social media is a double-edged sword for NBA players

While social media is a fantastic way to connect with the fans, some NBA players have unhealthy connections with their phones. Billups’ story is just one example, but there are likely hundreds of stories behind closed doors. Andre Iguodala shares similar sentiments because he sees phones as distraction for players .

Thankfully, coaches like Chauncey are dealing with issues like that, preventing them from these types of activities during half-time. Being on the phone before and after the game is okay, but it can be seen as disrespectful if they check their phone at half-time to go on social media rather than just checking if there is an urgent message for some reason that justifies that behavior.

It was fair for Melo to experience culture shock like that, but he learned that it was the modern NBA. Hopefully, players won’t get caught doing it again because they might not be in the coaches’ good graces if that continues.

Related: “It was like a f**k you 62” – Carmelo Anthony recalls dropping 62 points after the media and fans were over him for the Knicks losing streak