Former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony did not rule out a return to the Mecca if Kevin Durant was on the team.
Carmelo Anthony has not played in a basketball game since Nov. 8 of last year but may have a return in sight.
The 10-time All-Star was at an AAU event in New York on Sunday and known NBA insider Adam Zagoria asked him a simple question: would he return to the New York Knicks if they landed Kevin Durant in free agency?
Anthony, of course, did not give a straight answer.
I asked Melo if he would want to re-join the Knicks if KD signs there.
‘I gotta see what’s going on,’ he said with a smile. https://t.co/ou2KPfaH84
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 28, 2019
Surely, some Knicks fans are still recovering from Anthony’s Big Apple tenure. He did well with the Knicks, winning the 2013 scoring title and making the NBA All-Star team each year with them. As a Knick, he averaged 24.6 points per game in six full seasons.
Things went south once Phil Jackson was in the picture and running the front office. Carmelo Anthony then became a max player on an awful roster and just couldn’t gel with former rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis. His full no-trade clause made him tough to move, so it became a battle of wills between him and Jackson.
Anthony eventually won that battle after Jackson was fired in 2017, but was also traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder before the 2017-18 season began.
Anthony last played for the Houston Rockets this past season and lasted ten games before being waived. No disrespect to the man, but he just isn’t that strong a fit in today’s fast-paced NBA. He’s also a month out from turning 35, another mark against him.
The idea of Melo and KD playing together sounds like fun but given his -1.4 VORP the past two years, better for that to remain a fantasy as opposed to coming true.
