Phil Jackson (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
Trouble seems to be brewing with the New York Knicks after their embarrassing blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
New York Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson is not known as the Zen Master for nothing. He may be setting off more of his mind games on Carmelo Anthony, the team's resident star.
The comments from Jackson about Melo after their loss were covered by the NY Post.
"Carmelo, a lot of times, wants to hold the ball longer than - we have a rule: If you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop."
That's pretty much Phil Jackson calling Carmelo Anthony a ballhog and that his "tendency" is detrimental to the team. A visibly annoyed Carmelo responded on ESPN.
"I don't even know what was said, to be honest with you. I just don't even want to talk about that, what he's talking about exactly. I want to stay away from that at this point," Anthony said. "My focus is my teammates and winning. We've been playing great basketball, and that's the only thing I'm focused on. Whatever Phil said, he said it. I have nothing to say about that."
Anthony has a no-trade clause that prohibits the Knicks from trading him unless he agrees. There are many pundits who believe that the Knicks would be better off without their superstar and fully hand over the reins to Kristaps Porzingis, who is clearly the future of the franchise.
But we are talking about now, and Mike Vaccaro of the Post warned that "it would be wise to start appreciating what the Knicks have in a fully engaged Anthony, too. Starting at the top."
Anthony has scored well in their wins and despite the brilliance of Porzingis and his rapid growth, it's clear that they still need Carmelo who can score on a nightly basis. But it's not about what Carmelo brings to the team, but what they team can get in return if they trade him.
Jackson may have come to realize that the approach of pursuing free agents is not for his team, and considering the success they had in the draft, perhaps that's an avenue worth exploring again.
