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With the New York Knicks stinking up the place on the basketball court, somebody has to be blamed…right?
In the case of Knicks president Phil Jackson his biggest target is Carmelo Anthony. And by the looks of it he is doing everything possible to run him out of town.
For the past two weeks we have heard trade rumors on Anthony. Those rumors are beginning to get a bit louder as we draw closer to the trade deadline where he could go to Cleveland or to Los Angeles.
A recent report on the Knicks forward was published yesterday by Bleacher Report which details Anthony’s alleged lack of winning attitude.
Since arriving, Jackson has switched out every player on the roster around Anthony—almost two times over. It’s fair to question whether he brought in the right players, but the goal in his three offseasons, as different as they were, was to give Anthony established veterans and thus a chance at real teamwork, even as Kristaps Porzingis is learning the nuances of the NBA.
But Anthony is who he is, addicted to his individual success no matter the experience or insight put around him to teach him something more. After posting a career-high 4.2 assists per game last season, Anthony has regressed on that front, averaging his lowest number of assists (2.9 per game) since 2012-13.
Seems like Phil Jackson was doing some reading because shortly after it was published, Jackson went onto Twitter for the first time in over 40 days to address it in the only way he knows how…cryptically.
Bleacher’s Ding almost rings the bell, but I learned you don’t change the spot on a leopard with Michael Graham in my CBA daze.
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) February 7, 2017
We’ll let Fox Sports break down what the heck that means.
Jackson makes references to Michael Graham in the tweet, who played for Jackson when coached the Albany Patroons of Continental Basketball Association in the mid-80’s.
Jackson has said that he had trouble connecting with Graham and the team ended up releasing him.
Melo has a no trade clause so this rift could last a long time. Either way the trade deadline is February 23 so we should get an answer soon.