Carmelo Anthony Comments on Jeremy Lin Joining Nets
There's little disputing that New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony has been the most recognizable face when it comes to basketball in New York City over the past six years.
But when the crosstown-rival Brooklyn Nets acquired point guard Jeremy Lin and made him their marquee man, Anthony was surprised to learn that his former teammate is now the go-to guy at the Barclays Center on Friday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post:
"He is the face of their franchise – believe it or not. He came up, they paid him. Now the ball is in his hands. Now he’s one of the franchise players over there. I don’t know what you want me to say about that. I’m happy for him, excited for him to see how it’s going to turn out over there.
"
Lin responded to Anthony's comments on Saturday, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post:
"“I didn’t hear anything about it [Friday], nobody texted me about it [Friday], so I don’t think it’s a big deal, to be honest. I don’t really know what he said. Again, five years ago, I’m not really too worried about anything,’’ said Lin, who said Anthony has always been cordial, at least face to face. “When I see him I’ll say what’s up. I said this literally since Day 1: Every time I’ve run into him or had personal interaction with him, he’d been really nice to me and really cordial to me.
“I’ve never had any personal issues with him. We’ve never gotten into a fight or argument or anything, in person or through text or anything. I’ve never had anything remotely hostile with him. So whatever he says, I don’t know. … You guys can ask him. In terms of my personal interaction with him, we’ve never bumped heads or anything.”
"
Per Spotrac, Lin signed a three-year, $38.3 million deal with the Nets over the summer to make a return to New York.
After being signed by the Golden State Warriors in 2010 and spending one year there, Lin joined the Knicks during Anthony's first full season in New York and immediately took the city by storm.
Starting 25 of his 35 games as a Knick, Lin averaged 14.6 points, 6.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game during the 2011-12 season, sparking a time at Madison Square Garden better known as Linsanity:
However, then-Knicks head coach (and current Rockets coach) Mike D'Antoni recently told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical Podcast that Anthony and Lin had difficulties coexisting.
That's water under the bridge for Anthony now, though. "That was five, six years ago, bro," he said, per Berman. "I forgot about that."
Lin wound up leaving after those 35 games and played two years with the Houston Rockets and one with the Los Angeles Lakers before joining the Hornets last season.
The two will get a chance to spend plenty of time together during the 2016-17 season, beginning with a preseason game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
After that, the teams will meet one more time in the preseason on Oct. 20 in Brooklyn, followed by four regular-season meetings.
