Comparing Carmelo Anthony's age to his Banana Boat teammates

Carmelo Anthony's age is getting up there, and that's a major reason why he currently isn't in the NBA any longer. Although there's an argument to be made that despite him now being 38, the six-time All-NBA team member deserves to still be in the NBA.

He's great friends with guys like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and many other of the greatest NBA players that have ever stepped on the court. Remember the old joke about the banana boat with LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Dwayne Wade?

Carmelo was invited to that, and many wondered why he didn't get on the boat. It wasn't cause of his age either. He broke it down, per CBS:

"I didn't get left out. They were already down there, and I was meeting them," Anthony explained. "I had just flown in, and we were, like, taxiing to the boat. They were already in the water doing water sports. I see them on the banana boat, and I'm just like, 'What is this?' And they're like, 'Come on!' And I'm like, 'No, I'm not getting on that s***.'"

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Carmelo Anthony’s bond with LeBron James & Dwayne Wade

Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets

LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade are all great friends, even at Anthony's age. Although some do find it funny because of how old they all are now, the three of them still communicate with each other as if they were just meeting for the first time. They all have a great friendship and enjoy each other's company, no matter what they're doing, on and off the court.

Although everybody knows at this point that LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are great friends, many don't realize the way that they met. Anthony broke that down recently in an interview and spoke about how he and James became great friends. Funny enough, the way that happened is surprising and is going to shock many that don't know.

“We get to Jersey, and we’re playing in the PrimeTime Shootout,” Anthony, who transferred to Oak Hill as a senior, said on an episode that will premiere in its entirety on Aug. 19. “(He’s) coming into the hotel, and we coming into the hotel, and he like, ‘Yo, you Melo?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ … We sat on the steps for hours the night before the game.”

He continued:

“Like, ‘I don’t know nothing about you, dog; you don’t know nothing about me.’ And we sat there for hours, just kickin’ it, just talking, man. And we clicked from that moment. We just felt like we had similar backgrounds, single-parent home, broken family, growing up in the hood. That was a similar story, so we connected off of that before basketball.”

Their relationships goes beyond the basketball court, and that's great to see. Many NBA players around the world have great friendships with a few others, but Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Wade seem to be best friends off the court.