BOSTON – Ahead of taking on the Boston Celtics Wednesday night at TD Garden, Carmelo Anthony stressed his commitment to the New York Knicks franchise.
Over the past week, a number of articles have been written in regard to Anthony’s devotion to the organization. However, he shook off such talk Wednesday morning following New York’s shootaround in Boston.
“I’m committed,” said Anthony, who met with Knicks president Phil Jackson Tuesday to discuss his situation with the team. “I don’t have to prove that to anybody. I don’t think I have to keep saying that. I don’t think I have to keep talking about that. I know for a fact that people know that, people see that.”
Anthony is no stranger to criticism and rumors surrounding his dedication to the Knicks. Being in his seventh season with the franchise, he understands that it’s all part of playing in a large media market like New York.
“I’m numb ,” said Anthony, who is averaging 22.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. “It’s water off my back at this point.”
Anthony didn’t want to go into details Wednesday morning regarding the previous day’s meeting with Jackson. He didn’t want to beat a dead horse by revisiting the topic of his commitment to the team.
Instead, he chose to stress that he’s focused on the court and setting a positive example for his teammates.
“Right now my focus is playing basketball and staying with these guys, because a lot of these guys never dealt with all of this stuff,” said Anthony. “Especially being in a market like New York and dealing with articles and everybody has a different opinion on different situations.
“That’s all I care about at this point. Making sure these guys are staying strong, staying positive and keeping their head on right. Not letting everything else be a distraction to them.”
That’s exactly the type of example that Jeff Hornacek wants Anthony to set for his younger teammates.
“I tell them not to listen to the media and all that,” said Hornacek. “That’s the hard part – when things are out there there’s a lot of stuff that people write about. As players, as coaches, you gotta just kind of ignore all that stuff, stay together as a team and go out there and focus on the game.”
As for the way the Anthony is currently approaching the situation, Hornecek says he couldn’t be doing a better job.
“He handles it great,” said Hornacek. “I’m sure internally it might affect him some, but I think for the most part he knows how to handle these things, and he’s just ready to play.”
