Carmelo: Knicks' instability 'a lot to go through'
NEW YORK — On the fifth anniversary of the trade that brought him to the New York Knicks, a frustrated Carmelo Anthony admits his patience is being tested to “stay strong and positive” during his Knicks tenure.
“It’s been tough. It’s challenging,” Anthony said after being told that he has seen four coaches, three general managers plus one team president (Phil Jackson) and dozens of teammates since being traded from the Denver Nuggets. “It’s challenging to kind of stay strong and positive through all this.”
“You can’t control that,” Anthony added of all the changes in New York since his arrival. “When you look at it, how many different coaches? Four different coaches. [A lot of] different players. I mean, that’s a lot to go through.”
After the Knicks lost for the eighth time in nine games with an abysmal 122-95 home loss to the Toronto Raptors, Anthony was ready to talk with reporters as soon as the locker room opened after the game.
This is rare since Anthony usually speaks late after games following treatment. But the Knicks’ franchise player said he needed to leave Madison Square Garden to “decompress.”
“My mood? Yeah, I need to go home and just relax,” a frustrated but polite Anthony said. “Decompress a little bit.”
Anthony is in the second year of a five-year deal worth $124 million, which he signed as a free agent two summers ago. The contract has a no-trade clause, and Anthony has repeatedly said how much he wants to play in New York.
However, Anthony, 31, wants to win a championship, and his team is now in danger of missing the postseason for a third straight season.
The Knicks (24-34) have lost 12 of their past 14 games. Derek Fisher was fired during that stretch and replaced by interim coach Kurt Rambis.
“Regardless of the record, just losing,” said Anthony, who also was coached by Mike D’Antoni and Mike Woodson with the Knicks. “Accepting that — it is hard to accept that. You can’t be satisfied with losing basketball games.”
The Knicks surrendered 58 points in the paint and trailed by as much as 27 to Toronto (37-18).
“We just got to want to do it,” said Anthony, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds. “We want to get out there and want to play. We [have to] want to compete. I don’t think it’s anything to do with kind of X’s and O’s.
“I think we got to take it upon ourselves individually, take the challenge as a group, have each other’s backs out there. We can’t beat nobody giving up [almost] 60 paint points. Impossible.”
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