Carmelo Anthony decided not to join the Knicks as a free agent in November, but he said he felt coach Tom Thibodeau had them on the right track.
The 36-year-old Anthony will be a free agent again next summer, and no one will be surprised if he joins his former agent, President of the Knicks, Leon Rose.
Anthony and the Trail Blazers will face the Knicks (10-13) in the empty yard on Saturday for a 13:00 matinee. He saw the Knicks’ striking power first-hand last month when they rallied in Portland with a 25-point deficit to scare the Blazers in the last minute.
“I think we all know what Thibs brings to the game, just his intensity and focus and attention to detail,” Anthony told Zoom on Friday after a Blazers practice in the Garden. “Every team he has coached plays the same way. They play hard. They leave it all out there in court. They never give up. They never stop. Whatever the outcome, you see it with this young team he has now. So you see the impact he has early, especially within the first 20 games of the season. ‘
Although Anthony has a band with two Knicks rookies, Obi Toppin of Brooklyn and Immanuel Quickley of the Baltimore area, he chose not to join Rose’s program. Anthony identifies with Brooklyn and Baltimore.
Anthony watched a few years ago with his fellow Brooklyn resident Toppin at one of his pickup games in Manhattan, after Toppin’s first year in Dayton when he was still a family member.
“I think [Obi] Anthony once came to my ‘black on’ runs, ” I think he was still on Dayton when he came to play in the runs. He was impressive in the runs. Guys talked about him and tried to figure out who it was. And if you’re watching him on Dayton next year, just what he did, then we’re really putting everything together, OK, that makes sense.
‘But once I knew he would be in the best choice, it was a place I needed, which means New York. A good situation for him. Hometown guy. But also just the way he plays and what he brings to the game. Once he starts to fully develop, I think this city will be happy. ‘
Anthony scored in the new Garden with 62 points against Charlotte in 2014. (The actual record for Garden score is held by Elgin Baylor, who scored 71 points in the old arena in 1960.)
Anthony’s 62 game is the gemstone of an otherwise up-and-coming seven-year period – amid a war with former team president Phil Jackson.
“It was different – especially I had to deal with it on a daily basis and just accept it,” Anthony said, averaging 12.6 points for the Blazers but only 38.5 percent. ‘Never complain, come in and be a professional and be there for my teammates and just play ball. I could still climb on the court and eliminate everything, but still try to find a way to find joy in it and in the eye of the storm. ‘
Anthony seconded his partner, LeBron James, by saying the makeshift All-Star Game is not necessary, but adds a qualifying match.
“I do not think it’s right,” Anthony said. “I do not think we need it now. I do not really know the details of what happens to it, so if they feel it is the right thing to do, it is the right thing to do. They know best, not me. ‘
Thibodeau, who has been talking about Julius Randle’s leadership ability since OTAs, said he has not yet made Randle the official captain.
“He was the veteran leader, but I want a team of leaders,” he said. “It’s more about doing the right thing every day. You want the veterans to set the example and bring the young guys along. ‘