Few players have carved out a career quite like Joel Anthony.
His decade-long career in the NBA saw him playing alongside the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Penny Hardaway, Alonzo Mourning, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard, and under coaches like Pat Riley, Greg Popovich, and Brad Stevens. He was part of two championship teams in Miami and had a front row seat to the biggest circus the NBA has seen.
His most recent NBA season came in 2016-17 with San Antonio, and last year he played with San Lorenzo in Argentina, where he won a title.
Through it all, the Montreal native has been a stalwart for Canada Basketball, and most recently suited up in Canada’s crucial win over Chile in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, posting a team-high 17 points en route to the win.
I caught up with Anthony to talk about his evolving role for Canada and for stories from every stop in his NBA career.
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SN: When you got the call to suit up for Canada, was it an easy decision for you to make the trip to Chile?
Anthony: I got the call a little bit later than usual, a couple of weeks before the game was supposed to be played.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be a part of either game. I know that in the summertime is when we have all our guys available, and there just isn’t room for me at this point on that roster. I was actually surprised when Rowan [Barrett, Canada’s assistant GM] asked me to come to the team.
When I realized guys would be out it was an easy decision for me. I never have a problem suiting up to play for Canada. Playing in Montreal would’ve been great, but I understand where we are as a program and I definitely understand my role within all of that.
There was a time not long ago when you were one of the showcase players on the roster. Was it hard from you making the transition in terms of your new role?
No, honestly, I’ve always been realistic about the situations I’ve been in. I’ve seen how teams operate, and how things work, and it’s helped me to understand how things would have to go.
It was definitely time to have our younger guys come in and be featured more. Even though, yeah, there was a time when I was one of the main guys on the team, we weren’t getting the results we wanted at the time. I had no problem coming back and finding a way to help us in a new way. We had a really great core and those guys are like family to me, but there comes a time when the new talent has to come in. I’ve seen how fighting it just doesn’t work.
Guys like Kelly [Olynyk] came into the program as a teenager, and everyone saw how talented he was. We were talking like, ‘Man, this kid doesn’t even know. He’s about to make so much money in basketball, he’s about to be so good.’ He was just playing ball, working hard, enjoying himself. To see someone like him now all of a sudden be a leader on the team… And he has experience now. I think of him as Young Kelly, but he’s a veteran with this team.
Same goes for Tristan [Thompson] and Cory [Joseph]. I remember when those guys were in high school. Now they’re veterans [and] it’s their time to be a big part of that main core that’s going to take this program to another level.
I’m perfectly fine with it, I understand it. Honestly, I’m happy about it. This is the circle of basketball life.
Your basketball life has certainly been a full one. Going backwards, let’s dive into your career, starting with the most recent NBA team you played on: The San Antonio Spurs. What was it like joining that environment, and how did your expectations compare to what you experienced?
My expectations were really high, obviously. This is the team that everybody has always looked up to, whether it’s in basketball or in business, people have always used the Spurs as an example.
It was really special for me to have a chance to play for San Antonio and to be someone who they would consider to be on their team. That was big. They don’t just bring anyone there. They are very diligent about making sure they find the right guys and knowing that they felt I was someone who would be able to fit in to that team’s culture and belief in how they wanted to play, that was important to me.
Before that you were in Detroit, an interesting stop for you because at the 2016 deadline you were traded to Houston, but then the deal fell through. What happened there?
That was definitely a weird situation.
Like I’ve said, I’d been around enough by then and knew that something was going to happen [heading into the trade deadline]. Stan [Van Gundy] and I had a great relationship. There was always open communication and it was a good situation for me. But I didn’t hear anything like ‘Hey, we might trade you.’ Still, I remember the day before the deadline meeting with some friends and saying, ‘Hey, there could be a couple of guys that could be gone — and I could be on that list.’
Once the trade happened, Stan came up to me in practice and told me what was going down. When I saw the details of the trade, I understood why he would want to make that deal so there were no hard feelings about that. [Note: The original reported trade would send Anthony to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Donatas Motiejunas].
But it was weird because I was just waiting. I’m waiting, and waiting, and I don’t know what’s happening. The team left that day to go on the road, and I went back to my place in Detroit. My agent told me he hadn’t heard anything. We’re thinking that, because I was traded to Houston and then I was supposed to be traded to Philly in a three-team trade, that maybe Philly was holding the trade up. We didn’t know what was happening.
Two days later, I’m still home, literally just sitting there not knowing what to do or where to go and I ended up seeing on the news that Detroit had asked for an extension because of some medical issue. Now I’m like, ‘Look, I need to be working out,’ so I took a flight to my home in Miami and worked out with my trainer over there.
A couple of days later I get a call from Stan and he goes, ‘Sooooo…… [laughs]. It didn’t work out and we’ll be bringing you back.’
I had a really good relationship with guys on the team, and Stan told me they were happy I was coming back. It was fine, I didn’t have any hard feelings over it. But it was definitely a bit of an awkward situation. It’s a great story, though.
So before that you had a cup of coffee with the Boston Celtics, and it happened to be Brad Stevens’ first season as an NBA head coach. He’s carved out a reputation as a great basketball mind —was that clear from the get-go?
I noticed it when he was calling plays out of a timeout. Every ATO [“after time-out”] he always got a great shot. Every single one. You might not believe it, but every time he drew it up… And the way he drew it up, it never looked simple. It looked like he was diagraming a big football play. He’d draw lines all over the place and then just say, ‘Boom, and then we get a shot right there.’ It was crazy, and it actually worked.
As a player all you had to do was execute. That’s it. It’s why any time Boston was close, if they had a chance to take a shot at the end I always tell people there’s a good chance they’re going to get a great look. You can count on that.
That was the one thing that definitely stood out right away. He was always able to draw something up.
Which brings us to Miami, where you spent the bulk of your career. What was it like being a rookie in 2007 and playing under Pat Riley?
That was such a crazy season for me. It really was just like a blur. Honestly, I’m coming to this team and I’m fighting just to make it. I have Pat as a coach, this legendary coach you always heard about and have seen on TV all the time.
It was kind of surreal, the whole thing, especially when you put it all together, because my vets were Shaq and Zo [Alonzo Mourning]. D-Wade was a star in the league, plus we had Jason Willimas who I grew up watching, we had Antoine Walker at the beginning of the year. Penny Hardaway was on the roster.
Welcome to the NBA.
Right! My ‘Welcome to the NBA’ is like this legendary group of players and coaches.
Sometimes in practice I’d have to guard both Shaq and Zo. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but that really helped me grow defensively even though defence was always my strong point. But having to guard those two guys? It helped with my learning curve a lot.
What did you pick up from spending that season with Shaq?
I had Shaq’s poster on my wall when I was a kid. But the biggest thing for me was just how, even though at the time he was this future Hall of Famer and everything, it’s like it didn’t really faze him. He would treat everybody the same way. I’ve always been quiet and reserved, keep to myself. I wasn’t saying much and feeling my way through things, and immediately he’s coming up to me, talking to me about everything and anything.
When we were in the locker room he kept things really loose, and he’d always have his inside jokes with everybody. When I think back to how much that meant to me as a rookie just trying to find my way, having someone like him… It’s not even like he’s going out of his way, it’s just his personality.
Like, I remember one time I didn’t have my car at the airport. I was just going to wait for someone in the organization to pick me up and Shaq was like, ‘You’re waiting? Nah, come on, I’ll drive you to your place.’ I always remember those little things he would do to make you more comfortable.
You were also in Miami to witness Dwyane Wade in his prime…
When I first came, he was a little banged up and wasn’t playing a lot in the pre-season. It looked like he wasn’t getting a lot of time to work out, he was just rehabbing. But then he would come into the game and make all of these amazing, spectacular plays. And me, I’m thinking ‘I didn’t see any of that in practice yesterday.’
What makes him special is that that’s his gift. When you see him healthy and able to be himself, he’s given Miami so many special moments and it’s why he’s seen as — I won’t say ‘Mr. Miami’ because UD [Udonis Haslem] would be mad at that — but when they talk about Wade County and everything, that’s why.
That ’08-09 season was incredible to see because, scoring-wise I’ve never seen anything like that. Every single night, non-stop. It was crazy. To be on a team with someone who you know you’re getting 30 points from is special. And the way he scored, with his swag and his game, it was something else.
Off the court he was a great teammate and someone else who, even though he was a superstar, would still make everybody feel comfortable. He’s someone that you wanted on the court with you. I’ve been pretty fortunate with guys I’ve been able to play with.
The last guy I want to ask you about is LeBron James. What was it like to be a part of that circus when he first joined the team?
Circus is accurate. That first year, at least. The second and third year it was still crazy, but I’ve never seen anything like that first season, and all the other guys on the team said the same thing. The media attention for every practice, every moment, was unreal.
The first time we went to Cleveland was, by far, more intense — in terms of the crowd energy — than any playoff game, any Finals game I’ve been in. Literally you couldn’t hear the announcer because they were booing so loud for such a long time.
You’d think it couldn’t get any louder, and then they’d put ‘Bron on the jumbotron and sure enough, it got louder.
It was such a crazy experience, but that specific game was something that we needed. We were struggling a bit, we might’ve (had a record of) 9-6 or something like that and weren’t playing to our expectations. That game turned everything around because we were really in the trenches together. This was enemy territory, extremely hostile crowd, and we found a way to come together. Not only did we get a great win but it really propelled us forward to where now we know how to get through situations like that.
We needed to go through that. That team was so special, but we needed a moment like that to really get us going.
