James Dolan Forced Carmelo Anthony to Apologize for Exchange with Heckler

Carmelo Anthony told a heckling fan to “ask for your money back”. The Knicks has since issued an apology on behalf of their superstar, but Melo is now saying he didn’t do anything wrong.

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, New York Knicks‘ superstar Carmelo Anthony lost his cool during Tuesday night’s debacle against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"During a heated exchange with a heckler, the Knicks’ frustrated All-Star pointed at his boss, James Dolan, and simply told the angry fan: “Ask for your money back.”"

The losing is clearly effecting players, as well as fans. New York has lost 15 of their last 18 games… Dreams of making the Playoffs are long gone… The fan was letting Anthony have it, and Melo had enough of the fan’s heckling.

After the game Anthony explained his actions.

"“He kept calling my name, calling my name, saying ‘You guys suck, you guys suck,’”“At that point I was trying to gather myself and I turned around, all I did was point at Dolan and told him, ‘Look, the owner’s right there. Ask for your money back.’"

The next day, New York released a statement on behalf of Anthony, apologizing for his actions Tuesday night.

Although during Thursday’s practice, Anthony did not try to hide the fact that it was basically the team forcing him to apologize, as per Marc Berman of the New York Post.

"“Yeah I talked to [Dolan],”“We spoke about it. We didn’t spend too much time on it. It was Mr. Dolan’s decision.”“The Knicks. It was a collaborative effort. We sat down and talked about it. Everybody thought it would be a good idea to send out an apology.”"

In fact, Anthony reiterated on Thursday that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

"“I don’t think I said anything wrong,”“[The fan] said he wasn’t coming to any more games. I said, ‘Why are you talking to me about it. Discuss that with him [Dolan].’ ”"

The media spun it to where Anthony was essentially trying to deflate blame and pointed fingers at his owner, but Melo said that was not the case at all.

"“Too many (wrong) interpretations,’’“I don’t mind wearing the (black) hat,”“I don’t have that issue. I don’t any problem with putting the pressure on me and putting it on my shoulders. When it goes bad, it falls on me anyway. Anything that happens in New York I get blamed for. That’s just the way it is. I accept that.”"

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As well he should accept that responsibility, it comes with the big fat paycheck he is accepting from Dolan. Anthony seems to still be recovering from undergoing left knee surgery last season, as he is struggling mightily from the field this season. Melo is having the worst shooting season in his career, averaging 42.4% from the field. This is worse than his rookie year of 42.6%.

Frank Isola went on The Rich Eisen Show and said he believes that Anthony’s antics Tuesday night might have been a cry for help, and believes that change is about to come.

"“something is going to happen here with the Knicks, sooner or later I think”“Once the game ended, James Dolan made a B-line right for the suite that Phil Jackson goes into after the game.”"

So that will be interesting, and something to anticipate as the season mercifully come to an end soon.

Something that could also be taken as a sign of change, is that Anthony did not participate in a MANDATORY team charity event Wednesday night, as per Frank Isola.

Next: Knicks need to give Derrick Williams more minutes

Anthony missed the mandatory team event due to “personal reasons”. Could this be a sign of protest for being forced to apologize? Could this be the beginning of the end?