New York Knicks: Running down Carmelo Anthony’s candid interview

A full rundown of former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony’s interview on ESPN First Take.

On Friday, former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony had his first interview since leaving the Houston Rockets, with Stephen A. Smith of ESPN’s First Take.

His voice, shaky at first, explained how he felt after his meeting with Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets:

"I was surprised by it, big time. It went from, ‘Oh, this is a piece we want, this is a piece we need. Mind you, we had been talking for three years, four years, they were trying to get me to come to the Houston Rockets, and I finally went there. So I get there, I’m thinking everything is good. I’m doing everything I’ve got to do — never miss a practice, did all my work, I was real professional with everybody there. I did what I had to do. I did my work.Then the 10th game came, and I just didn’t understand where that came from. I actually reached out to Daryl [Morey] first, and said, ‘Can we talk about how can we make this better? What can we do to fix this? What can I do to fix this?’ But then he had in mind that he wanted to come talk to me, too, about releasing me and letting me go. I didn’t like how that went down."

From his fans on Twitter which also consisted of some NBA players, the common word describing his treatment at the hands of Daryl Morey was “disrespectful.” It was indeed a very emotional interview.  At times you could see the hurt and confusion on Carmelo’s face. “I felt like I loved the game more than it loved me.”

"I know I can still play. My peers know I can still play. I don’t think it’s about basketball anymore. I think it’s about me as a person willing to accept certain roles on basketball teams. Am I willing to accept a certain role on a basketball team? Yes."

The hour-long interview touched on and answered many of the questions Anthony supporters have desperately wanted the answers to. Now we know that he is willing to come off the bench, mentor the younger players, be a leader in the locker room as well as on the floor. A prolific scorer, maybe not a lot of defense, but a definite asset to any team in the NBA. What team chasing the dream of a championship would not want that?

When asked about his time in New York and why he stayed, he answered:

"I believed in them so much. I believed in what I was seeing, what was told to me, I believed what was told to me, and I was naive to anything else. I felt comfortable. I was home, I was on my square. And I wanted that. Nobody else wanted that. So I wanted to do something that was special in New York. I was putting all the chips on everybody else. Give me some people here. Put something around me. Then give me a fair chance to see what’s going on."

Anthony touched on so much, from why he didn’t go and play with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade he answered, “When they brought up Miami to me, it was just in an idea.” He is not looking for his friends to just hand him a job. When asked if he would want to play in Los Angeles with LeBron, he said, “1,000 percent. We talked about that since we [was] 18, 19 years old.”

After the interview, Twitter was abuzz with more positive than negative posts about the interview from some ESPN contributors, including Stephen A. Smith:

Now, Anthony is 35 years old, and almost all roster spots are filled in the NBA, including on the New York Knicks. After many months of others speaking for him, Anthony has said his piece, made his peace and now he waits.