Once one of the NBA’s most popular and productive players, Carmelo Anthony hasn’t set foot on a league court since November 2018, and hasn’t been part of a team since the Chicago Bulls waived him last February, shortly after his trade from the Houston Rockets.

That changed Tuesday, when the former scoring champion and 10-time All-Star officially signed with the Blazers. Also, according to ESPN’s Marc Spears, Anthony will start and play about 20 minutes Tuesday night against the Pelicans (8 ET, NBA TV).

Citing a “totally different” approach to the game, Anthony took to YouTube on Monday to explain his decision to join the Trail Blazers, and how he continued to prepare for an opportunity even as his career hung by the thinnest of threads.

“I always kept my eye on Portland,” Anthony said. “It just didn’t work out at other times. But now it seems like a perfect opportunity. I just look at that team and say, ‘This is what I can bring, this is where I can help.’ It can only work if all parties see it the same way.

“What happened before is the past; I can’t dwell on that. I learned from that. This happened at a point of time in my life where I do have a lot of clarity and understanding of different situations, just life. My approach is totally different.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue