How Carmelo Anthony Prepared for his NBA Return

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Carmelo Anthony’s return to the NBA has received plenty of attention since his debut Tuesday with the Portland Trail Blazers. After a year out of the league, the former superstar put in plenty of preparation to get himself game-ready. Matt Ellentuck of our parent network, SBNation, conducted an extensive Q&A with Anthony’s trainer, Alex Bazzell, this week, digging into the process.

As Bazzell describes, some of Anthony’s preparation was team-specific:

[The Blazers] run a double-drag ball-sceen primary offense, it was more about spacing and where I thought he might catch the ball once Dame or C.J. come off a ball screen where they might throw it back, and the…