Carmelo Anthony sets the record straight (once again) about the New York Knicks offseason and drafting of Kristaps Porzingis.
By Robby Sabo
Perhaps if Carmelo Anthony didn’t reportedly overreact at the time of the 2015 NBA Draft, he wouldn’t find himself in this position. The one that has everybody asking questions about how he feels about the New York Knicks offseason.
One successful NBA Summer League later and the overall view about Kristaps Porzingis has changed, drastically.
Melo seems to agree, via ESPN:
“He’s a down-to-earth guy, a humble guy,” Anthony said in relation to the No. 4 overall pick. “You can tell that he’s got a chip on his shoulder, which I love that. … You kind of have to have that being in New York.”
Anthony went further that Porzingis. He praised Phil Jackson’s complimentary moves through free agency.
“Honestly, I thought we did a great job just as far as putting the pieces that we need to put together,” Anthony said Tuesday at the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas. “We didn’t get DeAndre [Jordan], we didn’t get LaMarcus [Aldridge] andGreg Monroe, but [Robin] Lopez is a great addition. Arron Afflalo, I played with him a long time in Denver. [Kyle] O’Quinn is a great pickup; I think guys will like him. He’s a big guy, power forward. Derrick Williams, we’re going to get him right. He seemed focused. And then rookies, KP [Porzingis], I had him with me last week working out at my gym. We’re just trying to start this thing off right.”
The reason Anthony’s feedback has become such a hot-button issue is directly due to widespread reports about his displeasure with the drafting of Porzingis. One outlet, about a month ago, even reported that Melo was “skeptical” about his team’s free agent acquisitions.
He also strongly denied those most recent reports:
“I never said that s—. Whatever rumors that you guys heard about me or about Phil [Jackson], about Porzingis, about anybody — it’s all false.”
When there’s smoke, there’s fire. If there’s no chatter at all, there will be no reports.
Anthony’s frequent commenting with fans on his personal Instagram account also raises eyebrows. Why does he feel the need to always defend himself in these situations? Don’t allow anybody to write anything about you at any time, and you’ll simply avoid all of this nonsense.
In a basketball sense, it should be interesting to watch Melo and Zinger coexist on the court together this season. Let’s just hope there aren’t any more grumbling-type reports involving Melo, from now until eternity.
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