Trade rumors and free agency linked Carmelo Anthony to the Lakers for years, pairing him with close friend Kobe Bryant. Now that Bryant has announced he will retire at the end of the season, Anthony said he wishes he could have spent more time on the same side as the future Hall of Famer, though he is hopeful they will get one more chance to play together.

Anthony, who has won two Olympic gold medals with Bryant, said he thinks the Lakers legend should end his career like Larry Bird, bidding adieu following the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Larry Legend retired following the 1992 Dream Team’s conquest in Barcelona.

“I would love to have him over there, just for him to go out like that,” Anthony said Tuesday. “This season is tough. I’m pretty sure it’s tough for him, but to be with us in Rio and end it like that, that’d be a good way to go out.”

In those Olympic experiences, Anthony said Bryant helped transform his approach to the game.

“To be like a mental big brother to me, we became close with those two Olympics,” Anthony said. “Getting a chance of him accepting me as a friend, as a brother, he didn’t really have too many people he could talk to. If he liked you, he loved you. If he didn’t, it was a problem. I’m glad I was on the good side of that.”

According to Anthony, Bryant wanted the then-Nuggets star to be dealt to the Lakers before being traded to the Knicks in 2011.

“Kobe wanted it to happen, but I don’t know who was going to be part of that deal,” Anthony said of the failed negotiations. “There were a lot of talks of [Andrew] Bynum and Lamar Odom and Nene. There were a lot of talks during those times, but for some reason I was always connected with the Lakers. Maybe it was just Kobe behind closed doors.”

Knicks coach Derek Fisher, who was a rookie with Bryant with the Lakers in 1996 and won five championships in 13 seasons together, still wasn’t ready to share his thoughts on Bryant’s decision.

“I have to process that myself,” Fisher said. “What he has accomplished deserves the right type of statement or expression. It shouldn’t be something that’s randomly spit out at a media [availability] after practice one day. I think it deserves more purpose than that.”

Anthony participated in nearly all of practice after missing Sunday’s game against the Rockets with an illness. He said he fully expects to play Wednesday against the 76ers.

“The body aches are gone and the chills are gone, now it’s just dealing with the strep throat,” Anthony said. “I’ll be all right. I’ll be ready.”