Phil Jackson Damaged Carmelo Anthony's Trade Stock, According to NBA Execs

As New York Knicks team president Phil Jackson continues to publicly push Carmelo Anthony to waive his no-trade clause, he is also reportedly damaging his All-Star's trade value around the league.

"Phil made a statement basically that Carmelo's a losing type of player. Well, if he's a loser for the Knicks, he's going to be a winner someplace else? That obviously didn't help," an Eastern Conference executive told Fred Kerber of the New York Post.

Another executive said Jackson's public comments have harmed Anthony's trade value "tremendously."

Jackson has publicly said Anthony would be better off on a different team than the Knicks, preferably one where he could compete for a title. The former championship-winning coach has acknowledged the Knicks are nowhere near that level at the moment. 

"We'd like him to have success,"Jackson said at last week's NBA combine, per Nick Friedell and Ian Begley of ESPN.com. "The opportunity is narrowing. We'd just like him to have success somewhere. We're not going to be there. Hopefully, we'll be maybe a playoff team next year. It would be tough to consider us a possible champion."

Jackson's comments drew complaints from the players' association, which viewed them as inappropriate.

"If players under contract cannot, under threat of league discipline, speak openly about their desire to be employed elsewhere, we expect management to adhere to the same standards," union executive director Michele Roberts said in a statement. "The door swings both ways when it comes to demonstrating loyalty and respect."

Anthony, who turns 33 this month, has a no-trade clause in his contract. It's widely expected that he would only entertain playing for another team in contention for a championship—and would likely prefer a major media market. Anthony once facilitated a trade to New York from Denver to move to a bigger market.