Written by Ananth Pandian at CBSSports.com
The seemingly backdoor attempts by Knicks president Phil Jackson to call out Carmelo Anthony reached a breaking point Tuesday, when the two finally sat down and hashed things out. And while Jackson finally reaching out to his team’s star player after a brief period of time with no communication whatsoever should be a good thing, the two didn’t actually come to any real consensus. Except that Anthony reiterated that he is unwilling to waive his no-trade clause.
So, predictably, Anthony is a bit frustrated by the drama surrounding him, Jackson and the Knicks. Yet Anthony’s commitment to the Knicks isn’t wavering.
From the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
Asked if he feels more on the same page with Jackson, Anthony demurred.
“We converse when we converse, we talk when we talk,” Anthony said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
…
“I’m done asking why,” Anthony said. “My focus is playing ball at this point. My focus is these guys. That’s all I care about at this point. Making sure these guys stay strong and positive and have their head on right and not be a distraction to them.
“I’m committed [to the Knicks]. I don’t have to prove that to anybody. I don’t have to keep saying that and keep talking about it. I know for a fact people know that and people see that. Right now my focus is playing basketball and staying with these guys. A lot of guys never dealt with all this stuff being in a market like New York, dealing with articles and everyone has a different opinion. It’s all about being there more so than ever during this time for them.”
You have got to hand it to Anthony. Despite getting some seemingly serious push-back from Jackson, Anthony has not changed his stance nor does he want his frustrations to get the better of him. Anthony is being very open with the media — unlike Jackson — and genuinely seems like he cares about making the Knicks a better team. He is behaving like the team’s star and putting all of the Knicks’ problems on his shoulders.
Yet Anthony’s strong commitment to the Knicks may doom him in the long term. The Knicks are a mediocre team at best and Anthony is not part of their long-term future as New York needs to build around Kristaps Porizings. Also, Jackson doesn’t seem to want Anthony there and is resorting through back channels to express his desires. Playing in that type of negative atmosphere simply can’t be fun for Anthony.
To continue reading this article, click here.
