Yesterday’s Knicks Game Showcased Carmelo Anthony’s Polarizing NY Legacy
The hype was not hard to ignore. It was essentially built up all week.
Two Oklahoma City Thunder players would be visiting their former team homes for the first time this NBA season after messy trades that left a few bad tastes in fans’ mouths.
Paul George went up against his old stomping grounds, the Indiana Pacers, in a close but hard fought matchup that resulted a victory. The Thunder beat the Pacers 100–95 thanks to a double double effort from Steven Adams, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds, and another triple double performance from Russell Westbrook, who finished the game with 10 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists.
George, unfortunately, had a less than stellar welcome and his performance wasn’t exactly as eye catching as people would have hoped.
George was booed loudly during team introductions and every time he touched the ball. The constant sneers and taunts seemed to have taken a toll on the four-time All-Star forward since George finished the game with 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting, had two rebounds and four turnovers.
Although George got the last laugh, there’s no question that there’s not a lot of love left between him and his former home for seven years.
After the conclusion of the game, all eyes were on New York this Saturday.
Carmelo Anthony has a complicated history with the Knicks ever since his arrival in New York.
In February 2011, Melo was traded to the Knicks and it wasn’t a cheap deal either. The mega-blockbuster trade, orchestrated by team owner James Dolan, sent Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov to the Denver Nuggets along with $3 million in cash, a 2014 first-round pick and two second-round picks they had acquired from Golden State due to the sign-and-trade with David Lee, and a swap of picks in 2016.
Word around the league was that Donnie Walsh, the general manager of the Knicks at the time, was not in favor of the trade along with the team’s former head coach Mike D’Antoni, who felt that the Knicks were giving up too much just to acquire one player. Dolan ignored Walsh’s objections and made the deal as a means to compensate missing out on the LeBron James sweepstakes over the summer of 2010. Walsh would later resign from the team in the summer of 2011, leading to more instability in the front office.
The trade left the team without a legitimate supporting cast that would have been beneficial for Anthony and increase his chances of winning a title in New York. Unfortunately, that trade made it all the more difficult to compete since the team was capped out and could not acquire additional talent to help Anthony win a championship.
Anthony would go on to appear in the playoffs with the Knicks three times and continue to miss the rest of the post season during the final years of his tenure with the team.
The closest he got to competing for the Eastern Conference Finals was when he battled against the Indiana Pacers in the semifinals during the 2012–2013 NBA Playoffs and suffered a signature defeat when his dunk attempt was blocked by then Pacers center Roy Hibbert.
Since then, the Knicks have continuously failed to build around him and Anthony never truly evolved his game from what he was known for since his time when he first came to the NBA: a skilled, high-volume scoring forward.
Anthony was notoriously known as a poor defender and ball stopper on offense. He failed to hustle on crucial possessions and his isolation plays limited the team’s options and way too many times jeopardized the Knicks chances to win games.
It got worse when Phil Jackson, the former team President of Basketball Operations, continue to throw insults and jabs at Anthony making the situation all the more difficult and ruining the team’s chemistry and killing any chances of adding free agents to the NBA.
By the time Anthony requested a trade and was sent to Oklahoma City, the damage was already done. It was a messy breakup for both sides.
As of now, the New York Knicks (16–13) currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff race and have been playing efficiently well as of late. They have surprised the league since the team was expected to be at the bottom of the conference and play poorly. Although there is still need for better guard play and skilled defenders, the Knicks have shown they are heading in the right direction.
Head coach Jeff Hornacek also no longer has to worry about Phil Jackson usurping his coaching responsibilities and has a group of young players seeking to improve and compete for a playoff spot. He now has the freedom to run the uptempo offense that he always wanted to run.
“I’m going to say it point blank and clear: we’re not running the triangle,” Knicks shooting guard Courtney Lee said to reporters after scoring 17 points in a blowout win against the Miami Heat earlier in December. “We’re running a different offense that’s more fast-paced and it’s more suitable for my style of play.”
Meanwhile, the Big Three of Russell Westrbook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony are struggling to find chemistry in the tough Western Conference as the Oklahoma City Thunder (14–15) sit as the eighth seed, fighting to hold a playoff seed and woefully failing to meet expectations.
It doesn’t help that the Knicks have been playing better since Anthony’s departure.
Despite playing on a back to back after a tough, triple overtime game against the Philadelphia 76ers on the night before, many expected the talent pool of the Thunder to wipe out the Knicks since they lacked their two best players due to injury, emerging superstar Kristaps Porzingis and an improved Tim Hardaway Jr.
Ironically, it would be the Knicks who would walk away with the last laugh.
The Knickerbockers beat the Thunder yesterday 111–96. Thanks to the efforts of Michael Beasley (better known to Knicks fans as “Diet Melo” since their play styles are similar) — who had 30 points (on a surprisingly efficient 11–18 shooting), 5 rebounds and 4 assists — the Knicks were able to play in contention with the Thunder.
Other Knicks players played exceptional as well. Courtney Lee had finished with 20 points, second year combo guard Ron Baker had 11 points and four three pointers, and the two players obtained from the Thunder trade for Anthony — forward Doug McDermott and center Enes Kanter — also scored 13 and 10 points respectively and carried the team to their fourth straight win.
Meanwhile, Anthony had a dismal performance. He only scored 12 points and missed 13 of 18 shots from the field, including all five attempts over the final two quarters of the game.
“We wanted this one. I’m not going to sit here and lie,” Anthony told reporters after the game. “It was a fun game. We wanted this one. But for us it’s a bigger picture, so we move on.”
The game also highlighted Anthony’s bad tendencies such as his isolation plays and bad defensive efforts.
He was matched up against Beasley for the duration of the game and Beasley was able to hold his own against Anthony.
It may have been Anthony’s homecoming but Beasley stole the show and helped the Knicks secure a win.
Carmelo Anthony will forever have a complicated history with the New York fanbase. He gave the Knicks the best years of his NBA career and played his game well-enough to try to help the team win games.
It would be foolish to dismiss his time as a failure even though he never won a championship.
Anthony has had several electrifying moments with the Knicks that should be cherished by Knicks fans and the media alike.
Who could forget his nail-biting performance on Easter Sunday 2012 against the Chicago Bulls to help the Knicks solidify a position in the post season during a lockout season?
Or how about his triple double performance against the Boston Celtics?
We can even mention his first time matchup against LeBron James during his period with the Miami Heat and stunned the league with a victory over the NBA’s premiere “superteam.”
And let’s not forget his signature moment as a Knick when he scored 62 points at Madison Square Garden, breaking Kobe Bryant’s record of scoring 61 points, and certifying himself as the first New York bred ball player to bring home the scoring title back to the City he was born in. It was a feat not since seen since his idol and former Knick Bernard King, who also was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Anthony loved the City, loved playing at the Garden, and loved being a Knick. Despite the fact that the City didn’t always seem to love him back, he still maintained a level of professionalism and did his best to help the team win.
Even media personalities and reporters noted that Anthony has always been courteous with them and has never been rude or disrespectful to them. He was always available to answer questions even during the most difficult periods and was very respectful.
Even the New York Knicks organization could not deny that despite the rocky divorce, they will always have love and appreciation for Carmelo Anthony.
Prior to the start of the game and during the player introductions, the Knicks brass played a video tribute to Anthony, highlighting his popular moments with the team and the former Knick was showered with applause and cheers from his former fans in the Big Apple.
Anthony is fully aware that he will leave a complicated legacy behind with the Knicks. He wanted to win a title in New York and sadly, he will have to win an NBA Championship elsewhere, knowing he couldn’t fulfill his promise he made to the fans all those years ago when he first came to the City.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling for me — coming back here, knowing the goals that I had, what I wanted to accomplish here and falling short in that category,” Anthony said to reporters after the game.
Despite his decisive style of play, he still is a great athlete and wonderful person who has highlighted issues surrounding the country such as police brutality, socio-economic class struggles, the nature of Black Lives Matter, and even the failures of the American prison system.
Make no mistake that even though Anthony could not accomplish his goal of winning the NBA championship with the Knicks, he will no doubt enter the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest Knicks players to ever grace the court at Madison Square Garden.
#Stay Me7o.
*additional content credited to Basketball-Reference.com, DawkinsMTA, GD Factory Clips, Posting and Toasting, the Daily News, the NY Post, Bleacher Report, Knicks Film School, VICE Sports, NBA.com/Stats
