Portland Trail Blazers power forward Carmelo Anthony will not play in Friday's road game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Carmelo Anthony will not play Friday night against the Lakers, "because of his continued grieving and emotions over the loss of Kobe Bryant on Sunday,'" Charania reported in a video posted to the Stadium account on Twitter. Anthony, 35, reportedly was close friends with Bryant, who died Sunday along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.