Rockets guard Chris Paul says ‘disrespect’ directed at Carmelo Anthony is ‘unbelievable’

The Houston Rockets underwent much change to their frontcourt this offseason that saw the bulk of that change occur at the small forward position. This saw the departure of starter Trevor Ariza and backup Luc Mbah A Moute that was replaced with the addition of former All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony.

Following the move, there was some criticism thrown toward the Rockets because of his style of play that dominated the ball would not mesh with the team. In light of that, point guard Chris Paul voiced that he believes was an easy choice for Houston to bring him aboard, according to ESPN.

“Obviously I’m a little biased because that’s one of my closest friends,” Paul said at training camp in Houston in an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump. “But, you know, the disrespect that comes at him at times is unbelievable, you know what I mean? So for us, having one of the best players to ever play the game on our team, that’s a no-brainer.

“I think that’s up for all of us, you know, some of the smartest guys to play the game, to figure out how to make it work.”

There is likely much confidence from Paul given that there was a fair share of doubters that didn’t believe that he and James Harden would work well together. However, the two quickly jelled leading to just a win away from reaching the NBA Finals.

It could be argued that the Rockets could have gotten past the Golden State Warriors had Paul not suffered a hamstring injury in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. Although there are questions about Anthony’s defensive ability, his addition does bring aboard another proven scorer that could help them compete with the likes of the Warriors, Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics.

Ultimately, it is something that can only be proven on the court if this newly formed trio can work out in Houston next season.