HELLO, MELO –
Anthony deserves standing ‘O’ in first trip back to Garden since deal
Carmelo Anthony spent 6½ long seasons with the Knicks, some worse than others. Much worse. He endured four coaching changes and four front-office overhauls. He had 72 different teammates with the Knicks, which equals roughly five NBA rosters. Again, that’s seventy-two teammates.
Anthony, handed bedlam and turnover, was better than what the Knicks deserved. And when he returns to the Garden on Saturday — a now diminished third or fourth option on the OKC Thunder — he deserves to have that repaid with a standing ovation.
“I think he was as professional as he can be in his time here in New York, so I don’t see why they would not receive him with love,” Kristaps Porzingis said.
This is not about Anthony as a basketball player. We understand how his apathy on defense was maddening, how his isolation offense produced groans and eyerolls. His record with the Knicks isn’t exactly inspiring a movement to retire his jersey.
But as a brand, a philanthropist, a New Yorker and ambassador, the Knicks couldn’t have asked for a better franchise star. Partly, that’s because nobody of such stature ever wanted to play for the Knicks.
Except Carmelo. He embraced the bright lights — and the chaos — at a time when the financial incentives for playing in a big market are greatly diminished, maybe even nonexistent. He forced his way to the Knicks. He made it a point to become part of the community, to welcome his role as a Puerto Rican star in a cultural center for Puerto Ricans. Then he fought to stay by resisting Phil Jackson, taking the dignified stance while getting pushed away both overtly and covertly.
There are only a few sports stars in New York history who can be widely recognized by their first name. Melo was one.
“I have a different feeling with New York,” Anthony told reporters ahead of his return to MSG. “A different relationship, different bond with the city, with the fans, with the people. It’s a little bit special for me.”
That’s not just lip service from Anthony. He wanted to make it work so badly. And for a little while, he did. That 54-win season in 2012-13, when Anthony took third in the MVP vote, signified the first time New York won a playoff series in 12 years.
A few months later, he broke the franchise record by scoring 62 points in a game.
But then arrived the downside of Anthony’s Knicks career — the losing, the frustration, the triangle. It’s certainly part of Anthony’s complicated legacy, but shouldn’t define it for the fans Saturday night.
“”I think it will be a mixed reaction,” Courtney Lee said. “I think it will be more cheers than anything, man. You can’t fault a guy for just playing hard and leaving it all out there on the court and just trying to help the team win. Whether it was the style fans wanted or didn’t want — he competed night-in, nightout. You have to respect him being a professional how he handled the media last year. So I think it’ll be more cheers than F anything.” or serving as the dignified spokesman for a dysfunctional franchise — the lipstick on the pig — it’s what Melo deserves.