Carmelo Anthony's time with the Rockets appears to be ending after just 12 games, and other players are coming to in his defense

Mary Altaffer/AP

• After just 12 games, several reports have suggested that the Houston Rockets will move on from Carmelo Anthony.
• Anthony has struggled with the Rockets this season, while the Rockets have gotten off to a 5-7 start, far off from their 65-win pace from last year.
• Several NBA players came to the defense of Anthony, saying the narrative that he hurts his teams is false.

After just 12 games, it appears Carmelo Anthony may be on the move from the Houston Rockets in a somewhat bizarre turn of events.

Anthony, who signed a one-year, $2.4 million deal with the Rockets this summer, has struggled this year, averaging 13 points on 40% shooting with 5 rebounds per game. The Rockets, who lost some key players in free agency, have struggled early, too, getting off to a 5-7 start after winning 65 games last season.

On Saturday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowksi reported that Anthony met with the Rockets to discuss his role going forward. The New York Times' Marc Stein followed up on that on Sunday by saying Anthony had most likely played his last game with the Rockets.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey denied the reports, calling them "unfair" to Anthony, who Morey said has embraced any role asked of him by the Rockets. Head coach Mike D'Antoni deferred to Morey for any Anthony-related questions after the Rockets beat the Indiana Pacers, 115-103, on Sunday.

In the wake of the reports, some NBA players have come to Anthony's defense, as some of the Rockets' struggles have been pinned on him. If the Rockets do waive Anthony, he would be looking for his fifth team in fewer than two years.

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Dwyane Wade, a friend of Anthony's, defended him on Twitter.

LeBron James echoed the message, as did some other players.

Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Stephen Jackson went off in a video he posted on Instagram, saying that there are far worse players and far worse teammates in the NBA than Anthony.

"They're trying to blackball Melo and push him out the league and make sure it looks like he can't play no more or make sure it looks like every team he goes to he's a problem or a cancer on the team in the locker room, which is so far from being true" Jackson said.

"I can name 50 people Melo's better than right now in the NBA. I can name 50 people he's a better teammate than. Don't believe this narrative that they're trying to put out there that Melo's just a cancer and he can't play and he just makes every team bad. That's BS."

The New York Knicks traded Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder before the 2017-18 season. After one year with the Thunder, Anthony was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, who bought out his contract, allowing him to sign with the Rockets.

It's unclear if Anthony will have more suitors should leave the Rockets, but clearly, he hasn't brought what teams are looking for in his most recent stops.