Anthony to Jax: Don’t air the dirty laundry
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Carmelo Anthony said Friday he was hurt by the timing of Phil Jackson’s criticism during the Knicks’ winning stretch and confirmed his recent Instagram posts were in response to the team president.
Anthony also said he wishes Jackson would come to him first with his critiques.
“I think I said my part of it,’’ Anthony said, regarding his Instagram response to Jackson’s recent remarks that Anthony holds on to the ball too long, slowing down the triangle offense. “I’m a big quote guy. Got a million quotes on my phone. Sometimes they come up at the right time.
“I think we’re playing good basketball,’’ Anthony added at the morning shootaround at the Kings’ new downtown arena before playing Sacramento on Friday night. “I don’t know what’s this cloud over the team now. We lost a game. I just feel if it was something he wanted to address and had a stance on something, the door has always been open both ways. He always sends me a text or talks to me if it was any type of problem that was going on. I always welcome the conversation with open arms.”
Anthony posted twice to Instagram on Thursday — one a photo of his idol, Muhammad Ali, having arrows fired at him, the other a photo of himself with a quote in the caption: “EGO is the only requirement to destroy any relationship. So, be a BIGGER person, skip the ‘E’ and let it ‘GO.’ ” The posts gave the appearance of a feud with Jackson.
“At the end of the day, my focus is us and what we’re doing,’’ said Anthony, who has a no-trade clause. “We’re at a point as a team we’re making strides, playing good basketball. I just don’t know what was behind the comments or where the comments came from.
“I just want to continue to do what we’re doing — playing ball. We’re playing good basketball now. To have a temporary black cloud …’’
Jackson ignited the recent spat Tuesday, when he told CBS Sports Network: “Carmelo, a lot of times, wants to hold the ball longer than — we have a rule: If you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop. That is one of the things we work with.”
Anthony, who hit two game-winning last-second shots in the past two weeks to break out of a three-year funk in the clutch, said he “embraces’’ the slings and arrows aimed his way from fans and media, but was surprised it would come from management.
“I know it happens — it’s New York and something I know,’’ Anthony said. “It’s not something I expect [from the team]. I didn’t talk to him. I didn’t know where he was coming from. He wants to talk about it, cool. If he doesn’t, cool. In my eyes, it’s over to me.’’
Jackson is expected to join the club this weekend in Los Angeles, where he could meet with his star player.
Anthony couldn’t remember the last time they spoke, but the two have gone out to dinner on occasion.
Asked whether Jackson ever has brought up the issue of him holding on to the ball too long, Anthony said: “Nothing specifically. Conversations are more about basketball and what we see about the team, the film and games in different situations. Nothing specific about me doing one thing or me doing another thing.
“At the end of the day, we’re playing good basketball. That’s the only thing that really matters at this point. Any negativity coming to us toward the team, I don’t think we need it at this point, especially when we’re trying to make a run on this five-game road trip and have a chance to do something special.”