The New York Knicks defeated the Washington Wizards in a nail biter last night 117-110. Knicks Star Carmelo Anthony erupted for 37 points, hitting 4-5 three pointers along the way. Initially struggling to start the season, Anthony had some added motivation and it came from an unlikely source.

Anthony has been widely recognized as one of the best bucket getters in the Association, carving out a Hall of fame worthy carer along the way. Bonafide scorer he may be, he’s missed the boat when it comes to winning championships and CURRENT Wizards forward Jared Dudley pointed this out last May during interviews with ESPN as a member of the Bucks:

“I would say Carmelo (Anthony)…Carmelo is viewed as as a top five player… He has the talent to be able to facilitate.. he’s gotta get out of the first, second round-he’s got to get his team to the playoffs. LeBron with that (Knicks) roster, Lebron would’ve gotten them to the playoffs. They would’ve been at least a eighth-seed”

Analyst will always have something to say, but there has been a unwritten code amongst current players to air on the side of caution when criticizing your contemporaries. What makes this all the more hilarious is dudley is a servicable role player disecting a franchise level player. Eventually he was going to have to see that man.

“Oh yeah, it got back to me,” Anthony said when asked about Dudley’s comments. “Definitely got back to me. I might not look at it and read all that stuff but it gets back to me.”

Anthony dominated from start to finish drilling jumpers in Dudley’s face. both players were hit with double technicals in the second quarter, but that only seemed to add more wood to Anthony’s fire:

“I mean it becomes competitive at that point, you just want to go out there and show what you are made out of,” Anthony said when asked about the technicals and Dudley guarding him late. “Tonight is one of those nights. It had nothing really to do with him but this was a game that I circled on my calendar. I’ll see him three more times.”

Anthony scored 11 points in the fourth, including a go ahead 21 footer to give the Knicks a 108-106 lead with 1:35 remaining.

Dudley may have a point in his analysis of Melo and  have a strong career in broadcasting ahead of him, but while he’s CURRENTLY PLAYING, air on the side of caution when speaking out against his fellow players.

Source Espn and ESPN Radio

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