Carmelo Anthony vs. Mike D'Antoni: Which One Has to Go?

The New York Knicks have a problem on their hands, and someone is going to have to go. The question is, will it be head coach Mike D’Antoni or star player Carmelo Anthony?

The answer will most definitely be D’Antoni, but probably not for the reasons that you think.

According to a report from ESPN’s Chris Broussard, D’Antoni has completely lost the entire Knicks squad. His report also points to Anthony being the reason since he hasn’t fit into the offense and has, at times, seemed to be uncooperative with other players like Jeremy Lin.

The truth is that Anthony is the reason that the Knicks aren’t winning right now.

He has a difficult time fitting into his role in the offense because it is different than anything he has ever done. Plus, sometimes he simply refuses to try.

Also, he gotten into small altercations with Lin and has basically clogged up the entire offensive scheme. In turn, his other teammates have been in less of a flow and have stopped competing as hard on both of ends of the floor.

This had led the whole team getting discouraged and tuning out D’Antoni.

All of that being said, not all of the blame can go on Anthony. If this were a team being coached by someone like Phil Jackson, Pat Riley or Doc Rivers, there’s no way that players would be tuning the coach out.

D’Antoni has failed to earn the respect of the players as a whole. Some do respect him and want to run his system, but that system doesn’t work unless everyone is on the same page.

Whether this lack of respect stems from something D’Antoni has done or just his resume in general, I have no idea.

But it is obvious that he isn’t respected in the locker room, and that’s a big problem for NBA team that is paying him and the players hundreds of millions of dollars to put a winning team out on the court.

So, now that we know that blame lies with both D’Antoni and Anthony, who should really be on his way out?

It’s a tough question, but ultimately the answer is D’Antoni. Not because he has more fault on him than Anthony, but because he’s been there longer and it clearly isn’t working.

Anthony is in just his first full season on the team, and is head-and-shoulders above everyone else talent-wise. Another coach could probably make this team a contender with Anthony.

If the Knicks were to keep D’Antoni and not Anthony, the Knicks would be good, but probably not good enough to challenge the Heat or Bulls in the East.

Another reason D’Antoni will be the one to go is because that’s the way it always works. Doug Collins was shipped out, Michael Jordan stayed. Phil Jackson left, Kobe Bryant stayed.

Superstar players trump coaches every time. That’s just the NBA.

Ultimately, the Knicks will choose to fire D’Antoni, as they probably should. He’ll get another job somewhere. His style of basketball is exciting to watch and sells tickets.

After that, we’ll see just how good Carmelo Anthony really is and whether he can lead this Knicks team to the places it wants to go.