Carmelo Anthony’s exit interview for the season yesterday was quite the buzz among Knicks fans. After meeting with Phil Jackson, Melo spoke with reporters before he started his long summer off. In a back and forth with those reporters, Melo gave us plenty of quotes to try and break down and see where his head is at regarding coming back to New York. July 1st he officially becomes a free agent and only time will tell what will happen. Hit the jump.
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Melo, as he has all season, once again said he wants to stay with New York. But we all know in pro sports that the word of an athlete doesn’t mean much.
“I want to come back. But I also want to win,” said Anthony, wearing a red “NY” hat as he addressed the media at the team’s practice facility in Greenburgh. “Me wanting to be here, if we can put ourselves in position to at least compete at a high level over the course of whatever — five years — the contract would be, then I’m willing to stay here and I’m willing to ride or die for New York.”
Melo was very honest about money being a non factor which is the main thing Knicks fans should be worried about. But if you are a realistic fan, you already knew money is not a big deal at this point in his career. “If I was to go with another team, I’d be taking less money anyway. . . . Let’s be quite frank. At this point in my career, I’m not concerned about the money. The contract will be the contract regardless,” Anthony said. “Without a doubt, at this point in my career it’s about winning. Nothing else even matters. That’s not going to change. That’s still going to be my mind-set, it is my mind-set. You know, that’s going to be my No. 1 thing.”
He did make it VERY CLEAR that he is NOT with the whole idea of dealing with another losing season just to see what happens with the free agent class of 2015 which will include Lebron, Rondo, Kevin love and more. “Man, I feel like we gave away this year,” Anthony said. “This is a year that we can’t get back. It is what it is, so there’s no need to cry over the spoiled milk. We’ve got to keep moving forward. But we have to build. Let’s be quite frank about it, we have to get better. As a team we have to get better.
“I don’t know if I can afford to wait another season of losing. I really can’t see that picture right now. As far as other teams out there, which quote-unquote team will be the best situation? You never know. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. This is stuff that I’m going to have to sit down with my family and really figure things out. This is not a decision that’s going to happen overnight. It’s going to take some time.”
So basically after all that we as fans are still in the same spot. Waiting to see what happens while everyone tries to read in-between lines that may or may not even be there. My best advice is to stop trying to predict what he will do and just let it happen.
