MR. IRRELEVANT
Melo shrugs off Karl's brutal memoir jabs as meaningless
Carmelo Anthony said George Karl’s memoir rips are “irrelevant,” he’ll have his say in his own book and claimed he’s not even sure what his former coach means by “conundrum.”
“I’m past being disappointed,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ 106-95 victory over Orlando at the Garden. “I hope he just finds happiness in what he’s doing with his book. Hopefully it will bring him happiness.”
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek fiercely defended Anthony against the attacks written in Karl’s soon-to-be-released memoir. As first reported Thursday by The Post, Karl took several personal shots at Anthony in “Furious George,” questioning his leadership, ability to share the glory and defensive aptitude.
According to an advanced copy obtained by The Post, Karl wrote Anthony’s 2011 trade to the Knicks was “sweet relief ” and “like popping a blister.” He also wrote Anthony is a “conundrum.”
“It’s irrelevant,” said Anthony, who before the game refused to discuss Karl’s jabs. “The good thing is the truth of the matter is everyone else is speaking up for me from their own experience. So I don’t have to speak on it [until] I write my book later.”
What will it be called?
“Stay Melo. Not ‘furious’ or anything,” he said.
Anthony kept his sense of humor but clearly was irritated at the personal slings of his coach of six seasons.
“It’s tough,” Anthony said. “If this would have come out years ago — I haven’t been in Denver in six, seven years. When you’re there, it’s a different story than what you hear afterwards. I never knew it was this much. I never knew I was a — what’s the word, conundrum? I don’t even know what the hell that means.”
Karl alleged Anthony never was able to become the leader.
“I never knew that,” Anthony said. “That never was brought up. Anybody you ask, assistant coaches, players, front-office people, anybody you ask will sing a different tune when it comes to me and our mentality on that team. We came together, we stuck together as a team, and at the end of the day, that’s all we had. It took us far. Not far enough to where we were able to win a championship, but we came together as a team because of all that.”
Hornacek disputed Karl’s assertion Anthony can’t be a leader because of his distaste for defense.
“Things like that could be a distraction,” Hornacek said. “Depends how the player reacts. The biggest thing is Carmelo Anthony, for us, has been great — whatever happened in the past, let other
guys talk about. What I’ve seen out of Carmelo here, he’s done everything we asked and what the coaches want him to do.”
Anthony added: “I don’t really have to speak on my experiences there. As long as I know what was going on and what happened and the truth, then I don’t have to speak on it.”
Karl wrote Anthony isn’t a leader because “of his low demand of himself on defense. … Since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn’t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to.”
Hornacek countered that notion.
“He [plays defense],” Hornacek said. “His leadership defensively is that. He’s a very smart player when he’s on the court. Plays are happening, you see him directing traffic out here to get us to where they need to be.
“He’s been a great player for a lot of years, helped a lot of teams. People have their opinions. Just move on and let it go. With Carmelo, he knows it’s in the past, whatever it is. His focus has really been on this team and the new players we have and try to be a leader for this team. It’s very commendable.”
There is growing belief Jackson one day will pen his own memoir on his Knicks term, and there’s a lot of doubt whether Anthony’s portrayal will be positive.