Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony and RESPECT Magazine managing editor Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Credit: Chris Montgomery

RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson navigates through the NBA on Syracuse, NY’s Bud & The Manchild Show. Press Play Below To Listen

The Knicks played a 6 ½ minute tribute video to Oklahoma City forward Carmelo Anthony in his return to Madison Square Garden.

As ceremonious as it was for the former Knick to be back at Madison Square Garden, his play didn’t measure equally. Anthony was held to 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting and went scoreless in the second half.

The Knicks, who were without an injured Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway, Jr. beat the visiting Thunder 111-96.

As for the video tribute to Anthony, it was unveiled after the first four players in the Thunders’ starting lineup were introduced.

Anthony who was introduced last got a chance to watch while sitting on the bench in his hooded Thunder warm up jacket. After the montage, the Knicks’ public address announcer said his name as if he was still a member of the Knicks. Many cheered for Anthony with some booing him.

Check it out for yourself

Standing ovation at @TheGarden for Carmelo Anthony. pic.twitter.com/bpDp2fwEWh

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 17, 2017

While you check out the tribute video, make sure to check out my conversation with Inside The Loud House. We discussed Carmelo Anthony and his alma mater, Syracuse who beat an undefeated Georgetown, 86-79.

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The post Scoop B: Carmelo Anthony’s MSG/Knicks Return, plus Syracuse & Georgetown’s thriller appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

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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The post Scoop B: Carmelo Anthony Deserves To Have His Jersey Retired By The New York Knicks appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Tim Thomas and Kenyon Martin. Photo Credit: DJ Whoo Kid/Twitter

Retired NBA player Kenyon Martin chatted with RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on the Scoop B Radio podcast about his feud with Tim Thomas and a range of other topics. Click the player below to listen.

Kenyon Martin and Tim Thomas have had a long-standing feud that dates back to April 17, 2004. NBA Playoffs, first seeded New Jersey Nets vs. eight seeded New York Knicks.

With the Nets leading 94-74 midway through the 4th quarter of game 1 of the Hudson River matchup, Thomas, then a Knick, took Martin, then a Net off the dribble from the left side. Martin lost Thomas on defense as Thomas glided to the basket. Jason Collins, then a Net went to bail Martin on defense and attempted to block Thomas’ shot and instead knocked Thomas to the ground. Collins was charged with a flagrant foul. The hit not only required a stretcher for Thomas to get off the court, but Thomas was ruled out for the remainder of the series.

After being released from the hospital, Thomas expressed his frustration to the New York media, telling reporters that he would be looking to hit someone back when he returned to the court. When pressed by a writer on his stance on Kenyon Martin, Thomas stated that Martin was a “fugazi,” a mafia term which means ‘fake,’ and was popularized by former HBO original program The Sopranos, a hit during that time period.  

“I said what I thought that individual, Kenyon Martin is, which is a fake tough guy,” Thomas told me last year on Scoop B Radio.

“It kind of stuck. I’m from Paterson NJ, 10th Ave. and E. 29th. My city is called Pakistan right now. They call him Ken in his hometown, where he’s from. They call me Big Dog and Big Homie or OG where I’m from. So it’s a major difference right there.”

Martin would retaliate by cutting out the New York Post’s headline that read “Whiny Tim” and taped it to his practice jersey for all the media to see. The Nets swept the Knicks in that series, 4-0 and would lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to eventual 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons.

The feud would escalate.

Martin would appear on a podcast with NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, a former Nets beat writer for the Bergen Record (NJ) newspaper. Martin discussed his time playing with the Nets and when asked by Woj about the topic of Thomas, Martin weighed in.

Apparently, after the playoff series between the two teams, the two got into an altercation at a Dallas-area night club.

According to Martin, the party’s hostess asked Thomas to leave and informed him that she didn’t want “any of Thomas’ blood on her hands.” To which Martin told The Vertical Podcast: “Ain’t no one going to let something happen to me in my area code and I don’t think he knew that, so it could have got ugly. He found out that night to leave me alone.”

When pressed on a way to resolve the issue, Thomas stated that he’d like to step into the ring and box Kenyon Martin for a charity of his choice.

“Brother let’s get in the ring,”  Tim Thomas told me on Scoop B Radio. “Let’s get in the ring! I know you got some charities you can send the money to. I’ve got plenty of kids to help out, plenty of organizations. We could give it to charity. Or we can get some boxing promoters. I can call Floyd and we can get this off my chest once and for all.”

Earlier this year, 50 Cent announced that he and boxer Floyd Mayweather were setting up a boxing match with singer Chris Brown and rapper Soulja Boy as its headliners. 50 also indicated that retired NBA player Kenyon Martin, who played for the Nets, and Thomas, were on the event’s undercard.

Well, Floyd had a big fight last month, he fought some guy Irish MMA fighter named Conor McGregor! Maybe you’ve heard of him?

No sign of Thomas or Martin, though!

When asked about 50 Cent’s challenge, Martin told Billboard Magazine:

“Don’t be part of the circus, dog. You know what they say if you entertain clowns, right? If you entertain clowns, you become part of the circus. I’m a 39-year-old grown-ass man, dog. If that was going to happen, I would have took care of it seven years ago. I moved on. I got kids at home. I don’t got time for that. It’s childish. It’s just people reaching for something to talk about. I’m not gonna entertain that.”

Martin’s been pretty mum about it. Until now.

Appearing on today’s episode of Scoop B Radio, the NBA veteran and newly minted champion of Ice Cube’s Big 3 league had a lot to say about Thomas and that whole feud. “I would have whooped his ass is what I would have done,” Kenyon Martin told me on Scoop B Radio.

“And it would have been f***ing over is what I’m saying. It’s all it is and it wouldn’t have to go on as long. I would have taken care of it or I should have let someone else take care of it like they wanted to.”

Added Martin:

“The truth of the matter is, the man went at me for no reason. That is all that matters. I had nothing to do with the situation. I had nothing to do with the situation. The man got baited in like a dummy. He let the media bait him in and he fell for the bait like that is all it is. There is nothing more to it. There is no three sides to the story or nothing. The truth is he got baited in and went for the bait. Know what I am saying? They asked him a question and I had nothing to do with the situation. Jason Collins fouled him, I did not. They asked that man and he said when I come back I’m going to hit somebody. But they got Kenyon over there, that is where the question is at. I had nothing to do with the situation.”

Tim Thomas and Kenyon Martin. Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

Martin says he wants to move on past their feud: “Listen man, I am a man first. F*** all the basketball s***, all the celebrity s***, all that bull****. No, I am not. I don’t play those kinds of games, bruh.”

He also weighed in on their altercation in the Dallas-area night club. “Listen man, the only reason he here right now and his homeboys are here right now is because I called the dogs off him in Dallas, man,” said Martin. “Ain’t no if ands or buts about it. Ask him if he did go to the club in Dallas and ask him if the lady asked him to leave. All that needs to be said. Hear what I’m saying?”

Added K-Mart:

“Club Blue in Dallas. Trust me bruh, he only here and his n****s are only walking around right now in one piece because I didn’t allow people to do something to them. Because I am smarter than them. I am not with all.”

The two men made a truce at a Los Angeles-area grocery store, even taking a picture together. 

Tim Thomas vs Kenyon Martin @Shade45 ?????? @SIRIUSXM ? pic.twitter.com/SvRjtRjRY5

— DJ Whoo Kid (@DJWhooKid) May 21, 2016

“My son took the picture with his phone at the grocery store, dawg,” Martin told Scoop B Radio. “You know what I am saying? I’m in flip flops. We are in the grocery store shopping for barbeque. I got on flip flops. He had to take the picture. It didn’t come from my phone. So if I’m such a hoe and I’m such a fan why do you want to take pictures with me and s**t?”

Closure needs to be a thing at this point. My NBA childhood is at stake! Martin is a versatile big that could bang with the big guys and even defend the guards. I hope that NBA teams were taking notes during his Big 3 play.

Tim Thomas, for the record is one of the most talented tall  do-it-all players with handle and a deadly three point shot when it is hot!

At his skill-set, he Al Harrington and Andray Blatche are my guilty pleasures to watch on Youtube.

But I digress!

Mr. Martin, in the words of ESPN’s Mark Jackson, may we have this last dance? “It’s old for me unless he tries something or says something slick,” Kenyon Martin told Scoop B Radio.

“I am done with it. I got other things in my life that I need to worry about other than that clown. Everybody know the way I feel about him and it ain’t a secret. He knows the way I feel about him. It is what it is at this point, man.”

Case closed!

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The post Kenyon Martin On Feud With Tim Thomas: “I would have whooped his ass” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Spike Lee courtside at Madison Square Garden, Photo Courtesy of Yard Barker

Candice Wiggins had a very successful WNBA career. Wiggins won a WNBA Championshop and once won the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year Award.

But, to add to that list, she can say that as a member of the New York Liberty, she played in front of die-hard New York Knicks fan Spike Lee.

Wiggins retired from basketball as a member of the New York Liberty in 2015. But she distintly remembers Lee sitting courtside!

“I would say, you know the coolest thing was playing in Madison Square Garden and just helping the Liberty have the best season in history,” Wiggins told me on Scoop B Radio.

How cool is that? 

Check Out Candice Wiggins and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson chatting on Scoop B Radio.

“And I would say having Spike Lee at the game. He came to our two last games. He came to the Eastern Conference Semis and then the Eastern Conference Finals and I remember the whole season I was saying the last year: ‘I know I’ve made it, as soon as I signed with the New York Liberty, I said: I know I’ve made it when Spike Lee comes to a game.’ And I kinda just put that out there in the universe and every time I would say it to people, people were just like: ‘Man, Spike Lee ain’t coming to no WNBA game, he ain’t coming to our game, he’s never coming to our game. He ain’t in 20 years.’  Everyone kind of just rolled their eyes.”

Retired WNBA player Candice Wiggins chats with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio about playing at Madison Square Garden In front of Spike Lee. Photo Courtesy of New York Daily News

But Wiggins had faith as small as a mustard seed. And guess what? Spike Lee came to a New York Liberty game!

“I’m like: ‘man I have a feeling, man I just have a feeling that if we get good enough.’ I was just putting it out in the universe and then I’ll never forget I was warming up and then I looked up at the Jumbotron in Madison Square Garden: and it said: “Thanks Spike Lee, welcome Spike Lee to a Liberty game.” I was like: ‘oh no it’s over now.’ Like this is it, like this is it. And then you know, I had two of my best games in my entire career with him there?  And I just, that’s when I really felt that like I was on the top of Mount Everest. Like you know, it was the craziest thing I just felt like this is it. This is what athletes play for to be in the mecca; Spike Lee sideline at the Garden, damn!”

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The post Scoop B: Candice Wiggins Says She Enjoyed Playing In Front of Spike Lee at Madison Square Garden appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith shares with Scoop B Radio what it was like to sit on the bench during Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals concurrently with the O.J. Simpson Ford Bronco chase. Photo Credit: Gen X Misfits

It seemed like a zillion years ago. A 90-minute slow car speed chase with O.J. Simpson and his friend, Al Cowlings stopped everybody’s flow on a Friday night watching the NBA on NBC’s game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals between the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks.

Craziest part of it all?

While the Rockets’ Hakeem Olajuwon led all scorers with 27 points and 8 rebounds in game 5  against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, his Rockets teammates were keenly aware of the chase. Apparenty, during timeouts, players were watching the Ford Bronco/LAPD chase on television’s sitting on the scorer’s table. “I go in the huddle, I’m like, “O.J.’s on the run,” TNT’s Inside The NBA analyst Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith told me.

Check out Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith’s recount of Game 5 of the 1995 NBA Finals with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

USA – 1994: Kenny Smith #30 of the Houston Rockets dribbles up court during a 1994 NBA game. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1994 NBAE (Photo by Andy Hayt/NBAE via Getty Images)

Smith was a member of the Rockets and recalls vividly how it all went down.

Head coach Rudy Tomjanovich comes into the huddle and yells: “What are you guys doing?”

“O.J.’s on the run,” Smith yelled back.

“What are you doing? We’re in the middle of the NBA Finals,” retorts Coach Tomjanovich.

According to Smith, Tomjanovich drew up a play and as players were walking back on the court after the timeout, Tomjanovich pulls Smith to the side and asks: “Is he really on the run?” 

“So that’s how we found out about it,” said Smith. “It was like what the hell is on? This guy is running!  Like no one ever did that.”

A Lefrak City, Queens native, it was a shock for Smith to see a an active police chace on the Los Angeles Freeway”It was going on in California, I live there now. I didn’t know about the slow speed chase; they do that all the time. In New York, they’re gonna shoot your car. So I’m like: ‘are they gonna shoot the car down?’ ‘Are they going to shoot the tires out?’“

Simpson would eventually surrender to the LAPD and would be taken into custody.

The Knicks and Rockets dueling it out on the court in the ’94 Finals was way before today’s current social media era, which means you had a better chance of undivided attention then.

But now? Forget about it!

“It definetely was a distraction,” Smith said.

Rightly so. The Knicks ended up edging the Rockets out in game 5 91-84. No worries, the Rockets won the series and were crowned 1994 NBA Finals champs. They’d win another the following year against the Orlando Magic.

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The post Scoop B: TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith Recounts O.J. Simpson Chase During Game 5 of 1994 NBA Finals appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Courtesy Of: Eric Salvary

It’s a busy summer in the hoops world! On Sunday I appeared on NYC’s FloEmpireRadio.com show “Baseline Perspective” with host Brandon Nix. I talked about the NBA Summer League with the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers Lonzo Ball, Sacramento Kings’ De’aaron Fox and Philadelphia 76ers Markelle Fultz  are making headlines.

Check out Brandon Nix and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson

I also chat with Brandon Nix about Ice Cube’s BIG 3 tournament. We also discuss the soap opera that is James L. Dolan, Phil Jackson, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristap Porzingis. We also discuss the probability of ‘Melo joinging forces with James Harden, Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets. Give it a listen!

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The post Scoop B: NBA Summer League, BIG 3, Carmelo Anthony, James Harden and More On FloEmpireRadio appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and RESPECT.Magazine managing editor Brandon ”Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Provided By: Ismael ‘Calligrafist’ Sayeed of Calligrafist Photography

The New York Knicks have not played a regular season game since their 114-113 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on April 12, yet they’re still front page news.

Two weeks ago, the orange and blue fired Phil Jackson as Knicks team President. Over the weekend, former Cleveland Cavaliers GM David Griffin removed his name as Jackson’s successor. According to ESPN reports, Griffin had difference of opinion with Knicks ownership over how much control he would have over basketball decisions.

The icing on the cake?

2013 Knicks draftee, Tim Hardaway Jr., played the role of prodigal son after averaging 14.5 points and 2.3 assists in 27 minutes per game as a part-time starter for the Atlanta Hawks. Last week Hardaway Jr. signed a four-year $71 million deal with the Knicks. Despite that signing, online sportsbook TopBet predicts crosstown rivals Brooklyn Nets will finish next season better than the Knicks.

This ushers in the question: Was Tim Hardaway Jr. brought back to the Knicks to replace currrent star Carmelo Anthony?

If that is the case, Hardaway Jr. will have a lot more fun playing under current Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek than he did playing under former Knicks coach Derek Fisher. My sources told me that during Hardaway Jr’s first stint in New York, he bore the burden of being the son of NBA legend Tim Hardaway Sr. I’m told both both Fisher and Hardaway Sr. weren’t the best of friends during their playing careers in the 90s and at times Fisher took that frustration out on Hardaway Jr.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, before being fired as team president of the Knicks, Phil Jackson openly discussed his want to ship Anthony to another team. Anthony, for the record put up decent stats, averaging 22.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. It has been widely reported that Anthony, who has one year remaining on his current contract, is willing to waive his no-trade clause if he’s dealt to the Cavaliers or the Rockets.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, reported that the Knicks have a “renewed willingness” to make a deal that would send Anthony to the Houston Rockets following their acquisition of Hardaway Jr.

Anthony has always contended that New York is what he loves since arriving to the Big Apple in a blockbuster trade with the Denver Nuggets in 2011.

Before signing his five-year, $125 million max deal with the Knicks in the summer of 2014, Anthony sought out the services of brand strategist and consultant, Ben Ricciardi. Ricciardi, the CEO of the Burbank, California based Times 10 brand agency, has been trusted to spearhead roll-out brand initiatives with everyone from Adidas, Nike, the Houston Rockets’ James Harden and others.

In an interview with Scoop B Radio on Friday, Ricciardi, an expert and trusted authority of late via his expert analysis about Uber’s ousted CEO Travis Kalanick said that in 2013, he suggested to Anthony that he needed to show his connectedness to New York City through visual campaigns via social media. After all, Anthony was born in Brooklyn and lived in the borough throughout his teenage years before moving to Baltimore.

#TBT a couple of years ago this commercial with @carmeloanthony helped us grow to a whole different level. Big shout out to @whoischristianvazquez! Also amazing job by to business partner and CCO of @Times10 @mistermichaeladrian. #bentimes10 #carmeloanthony #times10

A post shared by Ben Ricciardi (@bentimes10) on Apr 6, 2017 at 6:57pm PDT

Last week, a video clip of Anthony’s workout with his trainer, Chris Brinkley littered the internet. The video showed Anthony running in the park at 2 A.M. Also last week, another video clip showed interim Knicks President Steve Mills and his Knicks staff chuckling at Anthony’s workout while seated and watching hoops at the NBA’s Orlando Summer League. ESPN’s Ian Begley stated that the Knicks declined to comment on the matter, making it difficult to know what, exactly, was going on at the game.

Knicks executives laughing at Carmelo’s workout tapes is all you need to know about that situation pic.twitter.com/43oGvgf278

— 12up (@12upSport) July 2, 2017

While that drew attention, Anthony’s on-camera off season routine is nothing new. Anthony’s ‘Define Yourself,’ a campaign that detailed how Anthony was changing his body and changing his shape was a fan favorite. According to Ricciardi, the concept all began over lunch with Anthony. “I’m hearing how hard he works and he’s working all through the night, every day on his game, on his body and redefining himself,” Ricciardi told me on Scoop B Radio.

Check out Ben Ricciardi and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

 

“I went to him and said: ‘man, like, the world doesn’t know this and the world needs to know why you’re staying in New York.’ You were born in Red Hook and you grew up in Red Hook until you were 13 years old. Everyone thinks of you as a Baltimore kid, but really you’re a New York kid and this is your hometown, and you were raised in Red Hook.”

Ricciardi added:

“Secondarily, people think of you as lazy, they think of you as not working hard and I’m seeing you grinding on your shot, working every day, working with your coaches, working with your trainers, we need to get that out there to people.”

The experiment worked. Anthony’s workout routine has been legendary. In the summer of 2014, he shed about 30 to 40 pounds by cutting carbs and meat from his diet and dedicating to his workout routine. “It wasn’t more about my diet, it was more about the training that I was doing and really pushing myself to that limit,” Anthony told me after his weight loss.

Anthony has been adamant about his loyalty to the Knicks over the years. He told a room full of kids at his annual ProCamps basketball camp: “My window is closing, so I’m trying to get this championship to New York ASAP.”

Ben Ricciardi. Photo Credit: Instagram

Ricciardi and Anthony also collaborated on a visual called ‘This Is Why I Stayed,’ a visual that explained why he chose the Knicks over the Houston Rockets and other teams who were courting Anthony back in 2014. “That piece came out incredible and actually ended up being played Opening Night on all the jumbotrons at Madison Square Garden after the first timeout.”

A six time NBA All Star, Carmelo Anthony, 33 was the NBA’s scoring champion in 2013. Anthony holds the record for the most points scored by a Knick at Madison Square with 62. He’s also a three time USA basketball Olympic gold medalist.

The hardest part of working with Melo may surprise you: “He goes back and forth whether he wants people to see stuff or not,” said Ricciardi. “The stuff came out amazing but he’s always wishy-washy, which you get from celebrities, athletes and people like that. One day they’re all excited and gung-ho and then the next day they’re like: ‘I don’t know if I want the world to see this.’”

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The post Scoop B: Meet Ben Ricciardi, The Brand Strategist Who Pushed Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony To Boast His NYC Roots appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.