New York Knicks Showing Carmelo Anthony Glimpse of Possible Future
Carmelo Anthony knew what he was getting into. The full-flux roster, Phil Jackson’s philosophical overhaul, the risky runs at big-name sidekicks—all par for the course, so long as his ledger and legacy could be made whole.
But “rebuilding” hardly describes what the New York Knicks are doing. Anthony isn’t a foundation; he’s a singular pillar poking through a pile of rubble.
What’s worse, the Knicks must become just that before the building can truly begin.
Whatever these Knicks are, Melo had better get used to it. Because neither Zen nor million-dollar men can guarantee anything else.
It’s easy for Knicks fans to seize the silver lining: The worse New York gets, the better its draft-day prospects become.
That’s all well and good if that rook is rank-ready and can contribute immediately. Perhaps Jahlil Okafor really is the next Tim Duncan. Perhaps a year in China will render Emmanuel Mudiay an instant Finals-caliber floor general.
These things could happen. Except, they won’t. Not a chance.
So unless Jackson has a trade-machine ace up his chakra, where New York’s first-rounder might be leveraged to landing an established star, drafting some 19-year-old wunderkind is akin to claiming Carmelo’s cause lost.
What remains, then, is a steadfast belief in Jackson himself—faith in one of the game’s greatest coaching minds swapping koans for calculus in the service of basketball alchemy.
The triangle offense is part of it, of course. To his credit, Anthony has seemed more than willing to wager his wares on Jackson’s famed philosophy.
"We had a great conversation, a very positive conversation," Anthony recently told ESPN New York’s Ian Begley. "It gave me some clarity whether it was in the system, whether it was things I should do out there for myself, whether it was things I should do out there for the players, for my teammates.”
Sadly, Anthony’s buy-in alone is no panacea. Sooner or later, the Knicks will need talent to match the Tao and long-term stability where for years has only been flux. There’s certainly no shortage of long-term targets, with Marc Gasol and Goran Dragic being just two of the more sterling names to grace New York’s radar.
There’s just one, rather colossal catch: Why would Gasol, Dragic or any of next summer’s top-tier talents deign to demote himself to some lottery-lorn loser? Magnetic as his mystique may be, Jackson can’t believe the unfolding failure of a season won’t deter to some degree.
When the Zen Master himself is taken to bouts of poorly worded pouting? Ratchet those chances down even deeper.
To wit, take what Jackson told reporters Monday (via Begley):
"It's about a loser's mentality. It's not about the skill or the talent level…I think guys understand what we're trying to do. Hopefully, they're getting to be more compliant. There's some resistance to discipline and order and culture change and things like that. I will call it a crucible for what we're going through here. The process, maybe the heat, is going to refine some of the stuff so that we come out and be a pretty good team after all is said and done.
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Veiled threats? Clever psychology? You could make the case for either, really. What seems clear, though, is that Jackson is already on a kind of discursive defensive, unsure as to when or whether the clock on his tenure might start ticking.
Never one for absentee ruling, James Dolan has by all accounts kept his promise to steer clear Phil’s day-to-day doings. In part because he genuinely trusts Jackson’s judgment, and in part because reneging now would risk alienating perhaps the best buffer from the public he’s ever had.
The crux of the nut being that, if Anthony and the Knicks are to kick their four-decade hell habit, it’s Jackson—13 rings the glimmering lantern—who must lead them.
Here’s EPSN New York’s Ian O’Connor stating just this case:
"But there's been little evidence of much meddling to date, and here's the truth: Dolan paid Jackson superstar money, in part, so the executive would also take the blame if the new program unraveled like all the old programs did. So Jackson has to be looking around now and wondering if this was all some big mistake, wondering if he has any chance over the next five seasons to make it out of New York alive.
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That’s not exactly the quarter-season progress report Knicks fans were hoping for. Maybe the Knicks never believed the playoffs would be a shoo-in. That they’d be sharing the East basement with the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons? Radiohead records are less pessimistic.
Not that there’s a recourse for Anthony to force. Short of a papal indulgence by way of a trade, Melo is married to these Knicks, current and future flaws and all. Maybe a miracle happens—a high-flight free agent, a clicking of chemistry—and maybe it doesn’t. Though all involved would certainly prefer a plan to a prayer.
With a truly brutal December ahead of them, Anthony and the Knicks stand teetering on the brink. For himself, for his team, for a city starved for glory, Melo must know the scope of the failure before him. After all, it's only through fear of the fall that the fiercest fighting is lit.
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