No. 4: — The time will come when an aging star has to cede the spotlight and leadership mantle to a younger teammate ready for more. But could that time come sooner rather than later for Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis in New York? Frank Isola of the New York Daily News examines an issue that could come to define the season and the immediate future for the Knicks:
Carmelo Anthony’s very public slam of Slam Magazine’s player rankings was mostly harmless fun. If you spend any time around Melo you know that he has tremendous pride in his game and his standing in the NBA. There’s no shame being ranked 15th. It’s a more-than-reasonable spot for a player whose team has missed the playoffs for three straight years. Heck, Draymond Green was ranked 16th and he’s been to back-to-back NBA Finals and won a title. The rankings are meant to spark debate and Slam Magazine should send Carmelo a gift basket for all the free publicity he generated.
But Carmelo’s reaction is noteworthy since there will come a day — maybe sooner than later — when the Knicks make the inevitable shift toward Kristaps Porzingis. Anthony is an upper-echelon player but there are league executives, coaches and scouts who believe that Porzingis is now the Knicks’ best player. Others think Porzingis is not quite there yet, and with experience, he will eventually develop into that player. Porzingis, ranked 37th by Slam, was better than expected as a rookie and he made things easier for himself by deferring to his older teammates, displaying a tremendous work ethic and remaining humble. Carmelo also played an important role in Porzingis’ development by embracing his young teammate and understanding that Porzingis would make him and the Knicks better. But how Carmelo handles that delicate transition to Porzingis becoming the face of the franchise and the focal point of the offense is critical. For a time, Patrick Ewing struggled with accepting a lesser role with Larry Johnson, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby as his teammates. By Ewing’s final season with the Knicks, he was sacrificing. He was playing fewer minutes and averaging fewer shots. What Ewing could accept was taking on a lesser role, but he was still taking most of the blame when the Knicks fell short. Porzingis’ time is coming and Carmelo is savvy enough to feel it happening. How he’ll respond is unknown. But Jeff Hornacek and the Knicks can’t afford for their most experienced player to go Slam Magazine on them.
