Carmelo Anthony Rips Phil Jackson For Saying 'Dumb S--t' in Book about Knicks Tenure
Carmelo Anthony didn't take kindly to comments that Phil Jackson made about him in his newly released book, Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players.
Anthony gave his thoughts on the matter on the latest edition of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, a Wave original, saying Jackson talked "some dumb s--t" (40-minute mark).
Anthony said:
"We had a poorly structured team roster those years and you were at the helm of that. Nobody told you who to go get. You had this vision of wanting to play in a certain type of system, which was the triangle. I love the triangle offense, [but] at the time it didn't fit the style of the NBA. We were the laughing stock of the NBA for being in the triangle. And I had to fight that and I had to take those bullets, not you Phil Jackson. While I'm taking those bullets, you are in the stands tweeting, talking about Melo breaking the triangle. This is the s--t that I had to deal with. I never spoke about him… We didn't have a relationship. So if I was that much of a hindrance to you, you should have come to me and said it. Instead of telling me to bear with you, rock with [you], stay with [you]."
Jackson was the Knicks' president from 2014-2017. Anthony was in town for six-plus seasons from 2011-2017 after being traded from the Denver Nuggets in Feb. 2011.
Jackson, who has won 13 NBA championships (11 as a head coach, two as a player), recalled a meeting with Knicks governor James Dolan and basically said that he had to step down because his relationship with Anthony was "busted."
"[Dolan] said, 'I don't want you to go through it. I know what it's like to deal with these people [the media],'" Jackson wrote, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. "I said, 'Unfortunately my relationship with Carmelo is kind of busted, and if he's going to be here, it's probably best that I go.'"
Jackson also noted a meeting with Dolan where he pushed for Anthony to be traded.
"I had this meeting with Dolan, I said, 'I don't want Carmelo back on the team; we've got to find a way to trade him.' I said, 'Let's sit with [Anthony's agent] Leon Rose and explain we're not going to win a championship. Carmelo wants a championship; he wants to be on a team that has a chance, and he should be; he's a Hall of Famer."
The team did not fare well under Jackson, winning just 80 total games, missing the playoffs all three seasons and never faring better than 32-50.
Anthony made the All-Star Game all three seasons, averaging 22.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest. However, the 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA player didn't have much consistent help during his time with the team as he led a rotating group of players around him.
There was also some consternation between him and Jackson, who implemented the famous triangle offense in New York. That offense led to success for Jackson with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. However, Anthony had legitimate concerns about its place in a more modern NBA, as he noted in the podcast (h/t Jared Schwartz for the New York Post).
"We had a poorly structured team, teams, rosters, those years," Anthony said. "And [Jackson] was at the helm of that. Nobody told you who to go get. You had this certain vision of wanting to play in a certain type of system, which is the triangle, which I love the triangle offense. At the time, it didn't fit the style of the NBA. We was the laughingstock of the NBA for being in the triangle. And I had to fight that, and I had to take those bullets. Not you Phil Jackson. While I'm taking those bullets, you are in the stands tweeting, talking about 'Melo breaking the triangle.'
"This is the s--t that I had to deal with. I never spoke on him, I never spoke about him. I had probably three conversations with the man his whole tenure. We didn't have a relationship. So if I was that much of a hindrance to you, you should've came to me and said it instead of telling me to bear with you — 'rock with me, stay with me, I got you, bear with me, we're gonna fix this.' "
Ultimately, Anthony wasn't dealt before Jackson left town, but he was eventually traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Sept. 2017 for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round draft pick that turned out to be current starting center Mitchell Robinson.
Both Jackson and Anthony had amazing success in their own rights, of course, even if didn't work out in New York. Jackson apparently still has things to say on the matter nearly a decade later, though, and Anthony did his best to defend himself after more barbs were thrown his way.
