“Melo was in tears man”: Chris Paul takes aim at Daryl Morey over of Carmelo Anthony exit from Rockets

Chris Paul recently went to bat for NBA veteran Carmelo Anthony, taking aim at Daryl Morey for a lack of people skills. The discussion centered around Carmelo Anthony's departure from the Houston Rockets after playing just 10 games for the team during the 2018-19 season. At the time, Anthony had signed a one-year deal with the team, reuniting him with former Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni.

Although he had come off a 78-game season in Oklahoma City that saw him average 16.2 points per game on 40.4% from the floor, things didn't work out in Houston. Daryl Morey at the time indicated that the role they signed Anthony for hadn't materialized, and as such, the two sides were parting ways.

What Melo didn't know at the time was that this would kickstart a lengthy saga that nearly saw him out of the league entirely. While speaking on a recent appearance on Dwyane Wade's podcast, Chris Paul, who was playing in Houston at the time, opened up on the situation.

As he explained, Daryl Morey simply doesn't have good people skills, which only elevated the frustration surrounding the situation in regards to Anthony.

"He said, man he said Darryl came to his room, right? And if you know Daryl Morey, he... No people skills. He don't really understand how to talk to people ... [I] called Melo, went to his room, ... And I was in there with Melo for a long time. For a long time, a couple of hours. And Mel was in tears, man. Seriously"

Looking at James Harden's past criticism of Daryl Morey after Chris Paul's recent comments

The Carmelo Anthony-Daryl Morey situation recalled by Chris Paul seems to share similarities with James Harden's criticism of Morey. While Harden didn't articulate that Morey lacks people skills the way Chris Paul did, it's been clear that the two sides had a falling out.

After a long and storied run in Houston, the two sides attempted to reunite in Philadelphia. Although Morey was able to get Harden to the 76ers, he was unable to keep the former MVP with the team. Although Harden took a pay cut to stay in Philly in hopes of luring high-level talent, the relationship the two deteriorated.

Harden unloaded on Morey over the summer, calling the GM a liar and indicating that there was no mending fences as he likened the relationship to a marriage. Back in October, he indicated that when you lose trust in someone, it's hard to come back from something like that.

Although Harden never spoke about Anthony's frustrations like Chris Paul did, it sounds as though a number of players don't like Morey's communication style. For his part, Carmelo Anthony is still unsure about what contributed to the split.