Who Made the Bigger Mistake: Carmelo Anthony or the New York Knicks?
Even while Carmelo Anthony remains sidelined by a nagging knee injury that may require surgery, the face of the New York Knicks has problems on his hands that no scalpel can solve.
After agreeing to a five-year, $124 million contract with the organization as an unrestricted free agent this summer, his club now sits at 4-20 after Wednesday night's 109-95 loss to a San Antonio Spurs lineup playing without its resting and injured stars. At first glance, one wonders whether the 12th-year veteran was wise to return to a franchise in so much flux.
But it's becoming increasingly difficult to view Anthony as the victim in all this.
And while it feels sort of dirty to openly sympathize with a franchise that's repeatedly (and expensively) shot itself in the foot so many times, one could persuasively argue that Knicks president Phil Jackson will be the one looking back on the summer of 2014 with buyer's remorse.
Questions have emerged about Anthony's relationship with his teammates, adding to a long history of doubts about his defensive pedigree and decision-making. Though several public proclamations from Anthony and others have sought to refute those rumors, the timing of a players-only meeting held last weekend has fueled speculation that something's deeply awry.
As if New York's franchise-worst 4-20 start and 10-game losing streak weren't evidence enough.
On Wednesday, ESPN the Magazine's Chris Broussard reported that Anthony became incredulous and confrontational when teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. yelled at him about getting a rebound.
Broussard wrote that "Anthony, according to sources, used another expletive in telling Hardaway he was going to beat him up when they got into the locker room after the game."
"Nobody's taken a swing at anybody," one source reportedly told Broussard. "But there's a lot of arguing and cursing each other out after games."
In response, Hardaway told reporters on Wednesday that his exchange with Anthony was a "heat of the moment" thing, while Anthony added, "Me and Tim have no problems."
Unfortunately, whatever happened between these two may be the tip of the iceberg, a mere microcosm of disaffection that Broussard linked both to Anthony and new head coach Derek Fisher's widely documented triangle offense.
"Several Knicks, in addition to Hardaway, are at odds with Anthony and believe he is not playing team basketball," Broussard wrote. "Sources said players voiced their displeasure with Anthony over the weekend, telling him he shoots too much, doesn't move or pass the ball, and plays defense only when he feels like it."
The criticisms themselves certainly wouldn't be anything new, but the prospect of quasi-open revolt among teammates would be a serious and potentially long-term disaster for a franchise whose fate is inextricably linked to Anthony for the foreseeable future.
It's one thing for that franchise to rationalize some late defensive rotations and uneven effort. It's quite another if those vices are indeed having a toxic effect on an already fragile locker room.
With much of the roster destined for relocation, The Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring recently noted, "The Knicks play in a regimented offense, at the NBA's slowest pace, that isn't creating good looks, something that will take a financial toll on several Knick players who are set to become free agents this summer."
To whatever extent factions of this roster perceive Anthony as a further source of offensive dysfunction, one could understand their frustrations being vented in his general direction.
According to Anthony, however, last weekend's meeting wasn't like that.
"Everybody had the platform to kind of speak their piece on what they felt about what's going on and how they can better the situation," he insisted to reporters on Wednesday. "But it wasn't no pointing fingers or anything like that, or solely pointing me out to be the blame for what's going on."
Apologists will rightly point out that Anthony isn't exactly working with an elite supporting cast. Can anyone really blame him for playing hero-ball on a team so desperately in need of salvation? And shouldn't we withhold judgment until he actually has some help?
Unfortunately, little patience is afforded to guys making more than $20 million per season.
Even if you think the case against Anthony is overstated, the fact remains he'll be 35 when his new contract comes to an end—and he'll almost certainly lose some ability to carry the load between now and then.
He may not be carrying much of anything if worse comes to worst this season. Soreness in his left knee now threatens to bury an already hopeless team.
"What I'm hearing is it won't get any worse, but it won't get any better," Anthony recently told reporters. "So it's just a matter of how much pain I can take while I'm out there playing. Some days are better than others."
Anthony has only missed three games so far, and back spasms were responsible for two of those absences.
But if all else fails to address his ailing knee, surgery and an extended recovery period may follow.
"I'm not even looking forward to even discussing the surgery or anything like that," Anthony added. "I'll explore as many other options as I can before I go under the knife and get surgery. ... That will always be a solution, an option, but that was the last, last option."
While surgery isn't imminent—and could potentially be put off until the offseason—the pain is already taking its toll, Fisher told reporters on Wednesday:
"I think overall, it's impacting him quite a bit just not in terms of doing things out there physically. I think more important than the game is non-gamedays, limiting practice time, and limiting his ability to develop and keep some rhythm and cohesion with his teammates because, really, just in the game is the most time they're on the floor together.
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Maybe it's an outlying injury, and Anthony will finish his contract out in top form. But if this is a preview of life with the 30-something superstar, the Knicks may have another reason to regret their pricey commitment.
Still a lethal scorer who's averaging 22.9 points per contest through 21 appearances, Anthony deserves credit for believing in an organization that's done little to earn his trust. Jackson had a lot to do with that, and we certainly owe the Zen Master a chance to cultivate some harmony amidst the chaos he inherited.
If Anthony can stay healthy and bring this team together, perhaps he'll be a big part of the solution. For the New York Knicks, however, that's a $124 million "if."
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