Carmelo Anthony decided not to join the Knicks as a free agent in November, but said he thinks Coach Tom Thibodeau has them on the right track.
36-year-old Anthony will be a free agent again next summer, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he reached out to his former agent, Knicks president Leon Rose.
Anthony and the Trail Blazers will face the Knicks (10-13) in the empty Garden on Saturday for a 1pm matinee. He saw firsthand the pit of the Knicks last month, when they rallied in Portland from a 25-point deficit to scare the Blazers in the last minute.
“I think we all know what Thibs brings into play, just its intensity and focus and attention to detail,” Anthony said on Zoom Friday after a Blazers workout in the Garden. “Every team he’s ever coached plays the same way. They play hard. They leave it all on court. They never give up. They never gave up. Regardless of the outcome, you can see that with this young team he now has. So you see the impact he has early on, especially in the first 20 games of the season. ”
Although Anthony has a connection with two Knicks rookies, Obi Toppin from Brooklyn and Immanuel Quickley from the Baltimore area, he chose not to participate in Rose’s program. Anthony identifies himself with both Brooklyn and Baltimore.
Anthony once played with fellow Brooklyn-born Toppin at one of his Manhattan pickup games a few years ago, following Toppin’s freshman year at Dayton when he was still relatively unknown.
“I think [Obi] came to my ‘black op’ runs once, ‘Anthony said. “I think he was still with Dayton when he came and played in the runs. He was impressive in the runs. Boys were talking about him trying to find out who it was. And if you watch him that in Dayton next year, exactly what he did, we really put it all together, okay, this makes sense.
But once I knew he was going to get into that top pick, this was a place I felt he needed, which means New York. A great situation for him. Hometown man. But also just the way he plays and what he brings into play. Once it starts to fully develop I think this city will be happy. ”
Anthony holds the scoring record in the new Garden with 62 points versus Charlotte in 2014. (The actual record for Garden scoring is held by Elgin Baylor, who scored 71 points in the old arena in 1960.)
Anthony’s 62 game stands as the gem night of an otherwise up and down seven-year stint, which is at the center of a war with former team chairman Phil Jackson.
“It was different – mostly because I was dealing with it on a daily basis and just accepted it,” said Anthony, averaging 12.6 points for the Blazers, but only 38.5 percent. “Never complain, come in and be a pro and be there for my teammates and just play a ball. I could still get on the field and block everything, and still try to figure out a way to find joy in there and in that eye of the storm. “
Anthony has seconded his buddy LeBron James by saying the impromptu All-Star Game is unnecessary, but has added a qualifier.
“I don’t think it’s right,” Anthony said. ‘I don’t think we need it now. I don’t really know the details that go on with that, so if they think it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do. They know best, I don’t. ”
Thibodeau, who has been delighted with Julius Randle’s leadership skills since OTAs, said he has not yet made Randle the official captain.
“He’s been the experienced leader, but I want a team of leaders,” he said. “It’s more about doing the right thing every day. You want the veterans to lead by example and take the young boys with you.” ‘