A very interesting story is in the latest copy of “ESPN the magazine”, which sheds new light on the possible chance that Carmelo Anthony played a bigger role in the Knicks deciding not to resign Jeremy Lin. This has been rumored before, however the new info in the magazine may have some fans formulating a new opinion. Click below to read more
GAMETIME GIRL
If you read Tim Keown’s excellent piece on Anthony in the latest issue of ESPN the Magazine—and you should, it’s excellent work—it certainly appears as though Anthony was the key factor in the departure of both men.
Keown paints a portrait of an athlete who wanted to be the lone superstar in New York, and who wasn’t pleased when Linsanity gripped the nation. Keown notes that when Anthony came back from injury as Linsanity was in full swing, he refused to play within the offense D’Antoni was running through his new, exciting point guard.
Anthony wanted the offense to run through him on the wing, and that wasn’t happening any longer. His desire for isolation plays became an isolation play within the team; Anthony wasn’t pleased with the offense, while the rest of the team was fine with letting Lin run the show.
Anthony reportedly began showing less effort at practice, famously didn’t join one of D’Antoni’s huddles during a game and perhaps pulled off a huge power play, according to Keown:
Ironically enough, Anthony did thrive in D’Antoni’s system during the Olympics, as Keown notes. But one of the reasons that might have been the case was because Lin wasn’t running the show:
