Just how is Carmelo Anthony supposed to convince Hoops Nation of something he so clearly continues to struggle with even believing himself?
The more the veteran, All-Star star forward continues to profess he stayed with Phil Jackson and the Knicks for all the right reasons, namely at this point in his career he values winning far more than the $30-plus million or so the Knicks were able to offer him that no other team could, and that he is convinced Jackson may be able to get him to pay dirt in the form of an NBA title quicker than anyone else, the more you walk away convinced Anthony is simply out to con himself.
After earning 11 chips as an NBA coach and 13 overall, it’s not that I doubt the wizardry of the Zen Master, yet at the same time who can earnestly argue a roster compromised of J.R. Smith, Samuel Dalembert and Andrea Bargnani has any legitimate chance of winning anything meaningful before one composed of say Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler?
But that’s the call Anthony made and that’s the story he’s sticking with – no matter what.
“I don’t think we’re that far away,” he told ESPN. “People use ‘rebuilding’ too loosely. It was overwhelming. It was stressful in the final days, one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
After also meeting with the Rockets, Lakers, and Mavs, Anthony insists the only two teams he ever seriously considered were the Bulls and the Knicks, though you have to wonder just how spirited even that battle became for him given the Knicks signed him for approximately $50 million more than what the Bulls’ best possible offer is rumored to have topped out at.
“I was flip-flopping,” he said. “It was hard. It was Chicago, but then after I met with L.A., it was L.A.. But it came back to Chicago— and was pretty much always Chicago or New York. That’s a situation where I could have walked in now to an opportunity to compete for the next however many years.”
But in the end, the Knicks offered more money than Carmelo Anthony will ever live to actually see, and that seems to have resonated with him in ways the thrill of victory simply could not compete with.
“I believe Phil will do what he has to do to,” said Anthony, adding that he believes LeBron James leaving Miami to return to Cleveland renders the Eastern Conference completely wide open. “It’s a matter of me believing in the organization, believing in Phil. I feel like we have a brand-new team. It’s a new beginning.”
But it’s also a future, at least in the short term, with limited promise and even fewer guarantees. That is, other than that $124 million dollars Carmelo Anthony is now due over the next five seasons.
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