Carmelo Anthony jokingly tells a fan to ‘ask for your money back’
New York Knick home games, as you’d expect, are rather pricey. For the first time in years the franchise doesn’t boast one of the league’s highest payrolls, but the team does count as a form of entertainment in midtown Manhattan, they’re currently paying two different head coaches (the fired Derek Fisher, the interim head man Kurt Rambis), and they do pay president Phil Jackson $12 million a year to run things.
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That’s a lot of dough, and Carmelo Anthony’s five-year, $124 million contract only adds to it. Toss in a 19-point loss to a young Portland Trail Blazers outfit and, we’re guessing, a 12-buck beer, and you’ve got some angry fans to tend to.
One decided to let his frustrations out on Mr. Anthony on Tuesday night, and the Knicks superstar could only beg off in asking the soon-to-be-ejected punter to take his cause up with team owner James Dolan:
“He kept calling my name, calling my name, saying, ‘You guys suck, you guys suck,'” Anthony said after the Knicks’ 19-point loss to Portland. “At that point, I was trying to gather myself, and I turned around. All I did was point at Dolan and told him, ‘Look, the owner’s right there. Ask for your money back.’ He’s calling me and telling me he’s never coming to another game and we suck. Just don’t want to hear that. I pointed to the owner and told him, ‘You deal with that with him. Maybe you can get your money back.'”
Anthony’s comments were delivered with tongue placed firmly with cheek. Melo’s got a good thing going here, even if the Knicks aren’t anywhere near good.
Carmelo likes playing in New York. It’s why he forced a trade from his Denver Nuggets (21 months removed from a trip to the Western Conference finals) to the Knicks (at the time, seven years removed from a trip to the playoffs). It’s why he turned down other, more championship-ready suitors in order to sign that massive deal with the Knicks as a free agent a few months after Jackson took over the team’s personnel department in 2014.
It’s why he clasps his no-trade clause with talons of steel, and why he’ll remain a well-heeled Knick on a rebuilding team into his mid-30s. It’s a sweet gig, being paid millions to work at Madison Square Garden, and Anthony (who is having a terrific year) should not be bent by his choices.
The Knicks are playing terribly, though. The team has lost six of eight games under Rambis, and they’ve mustered a 5-17 record since entering the second week of January with a .500 mark. The team was expected to contend for a playoff berth this season but it stands seven games out of the postseason bracket with 20 to play. The visiting Trail Blazers, whom the Knicks poached both Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo from last summer, were expected to rebuild this season; and yet the team is currently seeded sixth in the loaded Western Conference.
Carmelo Anthony may have been joking, but every quip has a little bit of truth to it, y’know?
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
