According to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony – who is usually affable with the media – was “visibly annoyed” when he was asked last night about Phil Jackson‘s comments on Anthony’s tendency to hold onto the ball for too long. After initially saying he didn’t want to answer those questions, Carmelo weighed in on Jackson’s assertion.
“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,” the Knicks forward 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.”
When Jackson made comments last month about LeBron James‘ “posse,” which the NBA Finals MVP took exception to, Anthony questioned why the Knicks president was even discussing LeBron at all. This time around, while Carmelo was careful not to be critical, it sounded like he was once again unsure why Jackson’s comments were necessary.
Here’s more from out of New York:
- Mitch Lawrence of Forbes.com wonders if Jackson’s “penchant for speaking his mind” will negatively impact his ability to stick around long-term with the Knicks or to land another NBA job.
- In the wake of Houston’s decision to match the Nets‘ offer sheet to Donatas Motiejunas, GM Sean Marks said he didn’t regret not using the team’s huge chunk of cap room to make a bigger offer that would have made it harder for the Rockets to match. Brian Lewis of The New York Post has the details and the quotes from Marks.
- In a separate piece for The Post, Lewis examines how the Nets might use all that cap room, passing along a few more quotes from the club’s general manager.