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Patrick Beverley says Jeremy Lin cost Houston Carmelo Anthony in 2014: "I ain't playing with No.7"
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- Patrick Beverley says Jeremy Lin cost Houston Carmelo Anthony in 2014: "I ain't playing with No.7"
Former Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley imagined what would have happened if Carmelo Anthony had chosen the Houston Rockets during his 2014 free agency after opting out of the final year of his New York Knicks contract and hitting the open market.
The Rockets were one of the teams that openly pursued Anthony, but in the end, Beverley stated that the star forward did not choose Houston due to a personal reason.
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"When Melo was kinda comin' to negotiate his free agency, he went to a whole bunch of teams, and he went to the Houston Rockets, because we was thinking about getting him. It was James Harden , Dwight and we got a chance to get Melo. I'm like, 'Damn!' So Melo get there, 'Yeah, I come here, but I ain't playing with No.7 though.' That's Jeremy Lin , " Beverley recalled.
Photoshop image of Carmelo as a Rocket
Anthony was the Knicks' franchise player when "Linsanity" happened in 2012. And when Lin started getting the spotlight in the Big Apple, that reportedly caused a rivalry between the two and a rift followed.
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Lin became a free agent at the end of the season and ended up signing a four-year, $28 million offer sheet with the Rockets , which the Knicks did not match.
Meanwhile, the Rockets seriously pursued Anthony in 2014, even putting up a pair of photoshopped images of him wearing a home and away Rockets jersey on a massive poster outside the Toyota Center. This drew the ire of Lin, who felt disrespected because the photos featured Anthony wearing his No. 7 jersey.
Carmelo ultimately re-signed with the Knicks on a five-year $120 million extension. Meanwhile, the Rockets traded Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers on July 13, 2014, less than a week after it was first reported that Anthony had agreed to return to New York.
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The Harden-Howard tandem led the Rockets to the WCF in 2015 but fell to the eventual champions, the Golden State Warriors . That was as close as they would get to an NBA title.
Declining Miami 's Big 3
While it was true that Anthony entertained offers from other teams during the 2014 free agency, it's unclear if he had a serious interest in joining the Rockets. Additionally, had had a chance to join a bigger Big 3 in Miami in 2010. Still, he turned down the opportunity because he did not want to play second fiddle to anyone, including LeBron James and Dwyane Wade .
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"Imagine me at 23 years old, 24 years old being the fourth option on a team when I'm leading my team every single year," the legendary forward explained on "Podcast P". "Like I'm finding my way in this league. And you want me to leave that and be a fourth option? I don't know mentally how I was going to be ready for that. And it ain't got nothing to do with money."
Harden was already an All-NBA player and an MVP candidate by 2014, and the Rockets were clearly his team at that point. If Anthony wasn't willing to play behind James and Wade — even with a near-guaranteed championship on the table — why would he have chosen Houston, where Harden and Howard were still unproven together?
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Nov 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
