Carmelo Anthony: The superstar who wanted to play at the Garden

Looking back at Carmelo Anthony’s tumultuous end to his time with the New York Knicks.

Why is it that every time there is a post on social media about Carmelo Anthony’s jersey being retired or him retiring as a Knick which, he is owed, is there such an outcry. It has been said that the New York Knicks lost out on so much since Anthony forced his way into New York, but when he arrived here, Knicks Nation was ecstatic about finally have a superstar.

The Knicks did not have to do it, but they wanted him here as much as ‘Melo wanted to be here. That’s the operative word, isn’t it? Wanted. He wanted to be here. LeBron James wanted to come here, too, but he announced his intentions to “to take his talents to South Beach.”

During Anthony’s tenure, the Knicks had a 54-win season, led the Atlantic Division and went to the second round of the playoffs, but no further advancement than that. Whatever happened to the 54-win team, and the 54-win coach Mike Woodson? Where are the teammates that helped Anthony take the team there?

Phil Jackson happened.

Here come the championships, everyone thought, or something positive. In my first blog post at tpoweblog.wordpress.com, “The Triangle Offense: Redemption or Decline of the New York Knicks,’” I described Jackson as “The winningest coach in all of basketball,” and on Anthony: “I want to embrace what Phil and [Derek Fisher] are doing. I want them to know that I’m in. I know from being a student of the game and watching and knowing the history, it will work.” So what happened?

In 2014, Charles Curtis of For The Win wrote about the seven things Jackson did that doomed Carmelo Anthony’s career.

Of the seven reasons, the first that stood out was the hiring of Derek Fisher, which should be number six. Numbers two through six should be one through five. They show step-by-step how the team was disbanded, replacing it with not one player that is still a Knick today.

During his tenure, Jackson took that roster, including Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Steve Novak, Pablo Prigioni, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, and Amare Stoudemire, and replaced them with Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk, Lance Thomas, Jerian Grant, Robin Lopez, Derrick Rose, Justin Holiday and Joakim Noah. The rest of the team retired, or, as in Jason Kidd’s case, started coaching.

Jackson replaced Woodson with Fisher, a first-time coach who used to play for the 11-time champion on the Lakers, which led to the worst records in Knicks history, long losing streaks, and, by the Christmas game against the Raptors, a 5-25. In his second season, when Fisher declared that New York was not trying to make the playoffs, he was swiftly fired.

During Jeff Hornacek’s time as the next coach up, the most memorable thing to happen was that the Knicks lost Carmelo Anthony, the last of that 54 win team. He was already dealing with personal issues along with a President of Basketball Operations in Jackson, who gave him a lucrative contract, and just wanted him gone. If he wanted player out, why offer a max contract?

Simply put, Jackson had to. Other teams may have wanted Anthony, but they could only offer him $90 million over four years.

After his winning team was demolished, after giving up money, and after trying to win with a team that struggled, still, Anthony wanted to be here, per an interview with Sports Illustrated:

"“A few years ago I dreamed of coming back to New York City, the place of my birth, and on February 23, 2011 that became a reality,” Anthony wrote on his website, ThisIsMelo.com. “This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team. At this pivotal juncture in my career, I owed it to myself and my family to explore all of the options available to me. Through it all, my heart never wavered.“In the end, I am a New York Knick at heart. I am looking forward to continue my career in Orange & Blue and to work with Phil Jackson, a champion who builds championship teams. Madison Square Garden is the mecca (sic) of basketball and I am surrounded by the greatest fans in the world.” (Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated, July 9, 2014)"

One day, his No. 7 jersey could be retired at Madison Square Garden. He won the scoring title in 2013; he holds the record for the highest-scoring game in the Garden at 62 points; he led his team to the playoffs in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and he was an All-Star every year he played with the Knicks.

The New York Knicks should allow Antony to retire here, but does he want to come home one last time? He could potentially turn the young guys into champions, and it could be one of the biggest contributions he could make to this city.