Carmelo Anthony waves to crowd at Madison Square Garden. Photo Credit: New York Daily News
Power 105 The Breakfast Club’s DJ Envy dropped by Scoop B Radio & Discussed Carmelo Anthony, Odell Beckham and more with RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Press Play Below To Listen!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Carmelo Anthony is a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Last month the Knicks and Thunder engaged in a blockbuster deal that shipped Anthony to the Thunder in exchange for Enes Kanter.
The move merged Anthony with the NBA’s reigning league MVP Russell Westbrook and three-time All NBA forward Paul George.
Anthony will get his first crack at his former team when the Knicks and Thunder tip off at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK on Thursday.
Here’s the ultimate Regis Philbin Who Wants to be a Millionaire question: How will Carmelo Anthony be remembered during his time as a New York Knick?
It’s a very complicated dialogues to have. Individually Melo had it made in the Big Apple. A ten-time NBA All Star, Anthony played seven seasons as a Knick where he averaged 24.7 points, posted 7 rebounds and dished 3.2 assists per game.
Anthony was traded to NYC in 2011 for everything but the kitchen sink!
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony (7) is guarded by Houston Rockets guard James. Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
The Knicks sent Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and three draft picks to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter.
That deal bore fruit to a disaster that lasted longer than a New York Minute. Six years later, the Knicks have only had one 50-win season in the last decade.
For those keeping score at home: the Knicks were 207-269 while Anthony was a member of the team.
During that time, the orange and blue have won only one of four playoff series and missed the postseason each of the past four years.
“His jersey would never get retired,” Power 105’s The Breakfast Club’s DJ Envy told me on a recent episode of Scoop B Radio. “I think that Melo deserves to get his jersey retired.”
Anthony is one of the greatest scorers and purest small forwards to play the game. As a Knick, Anthony broke Bernard King’s longstanding Knicks 61-point single game scoring record and Kobe Bryant’s 60-point mark for the most points ever scored at Madison Square Garden.
DJ Envy doesn’t blame Anthony’s departure from the Knicks. “If I am Melo I would leave,” he said.
“I love Melo. I think Melo being in New York, coming to the Knicks is bad. I think the management is bad and I think they really don’t know what they are doing. I don’t like how they pick players, I don’t like how they respect their players, but I am a Knicks fan and I always have been a Knicks fan.”
With Anthony now in the Knicks’ rearview, the team has built around center, Kristaps Porzingis. In the offseason, they signed Tim Hardaway Jr. and added Michael Beasley.
Knicks fans love the past and are certainly in love with the 90s era of basketball. Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck detailed it in his: With Little to Cheer in the Present, Knicks and Their Fans Trapped in the Past column earlier this year.
What if the Knicks got it together with Melo there? “Melo is 36 years old still knocking out 25 points a game,” said DJ Envy.
Power 105’s The Breakfast Club’s DJ Envy and Angela Yee with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony. Photo Credit: dmfashionbook
Added DJ Envy of Anthony who turned 33 in May: “It’s not Melo. It’s the team.”
Born in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, NY, Anthony lived in the borough for part of his formative years. He relocated to Baltimore, Maryland where he starred at nearby Towson Catholic before transferring to national basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA.
Anthony’s move to NYC after winning a National Championship at Syracuse and playing seven years with the Denver Nuggets had the makings of a grand coming home party.
No such luck! Always gracious in interviews, public appearances and even when he was off the clock, Anthony played it cool until the very end.
In a recap I wrote on Anthony’s Pro Camps basketball camp a few years ago, Anthony said: “My window is closing, so I’m trying to get this championship to New York ASAP.”
You wanted to believe it. But it was hard to believe that from 2013-2017 when a guy named LeBron James, one of Anthony’s closest friends, was running the NBA’s Eastern Conference and led both the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals.
Keep in mind: During Anthony’s tenure with the Knicks, he had 72 different teammates. Of that lucky number 72, only Tyson Chandler made an All-Star team during the same season as Melo.
Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson. Photo Courtesy of Gospel Today
Coaching changes, trades and a very public feud with former team president Phil Jackson created a recipe for disaster that the team never really recovered from.
Ah yes, then there was the notion that the Knicks would re-live the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles, Tex Winter designed triangle offense. “You can’t put Melo in and run a triangle offense,” said DJ Envy.
“It isn’t going to work. You have to work with everybody. I’ve got two sons and three daughters. What I do with my fifteen year old is not going to work with my four year old. I can’t treat them the same way. I have to take each individual situation and break it down that way.”
Both Melo and the Knicks have moved on. Melo’s parting gift to New York is Hoodie Melo!
If you don’t know what Hoodie Melo is, it is in your best professional interest to google it, you’re missing out. I promise you!
All parties in the Knicks/Anthony melo-drama are turning the page from their seven year marriage and amicable divorce.
All involved are in a new relationship and have new relationship goals. The plot thickens, however when all parties involved will run into each other for the first time while on their date at 8 in Oklahoma City.
Popcorn and slushees please!
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