New York Knicks: Carmelo Anthony Calls Out Phil Jackson

Despite playing well this season, the New York Knicks have some drama between their President and star player.

On Tuesday, New York Knicks President Phil Jackson made some comments about Carmelo Anthony. Despite the Knicks playing well, Jackson highlighted things that Anthony needs to improve.

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“He can play that role that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played,” Jackson said via James Herbert of CBS Sports. “That’s a perfect spot for him, to be in that isolated position on the weak side. Because it’s an overload offense and there’s a weak-side man that always has an advantage if the ball is swung.

“Carmelo, a lot of times, wants to hold the ball longer than — we have a rule, if you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold the ball for three, four, five seconds, then everybody comes to a stop. That is one of the things we work with. But he has adjusted to it, he knows what it can do and he’s willing to see its success.”

Anthony clearly didn’t like the comments from Jackson, as he took to social media with some obvious posts about Jackson.

On Friday, Anthony made it pretty clear that he doesn’t appreciate the criticism from Jackson. Also, he believes that type of negativity can hurt the team.

“At the end of the day we’re playing good basketball,” Anthony said to Stefan Bondy of the NY Daily News. “That’s the only thing that matters at this point. So any negativity that’s coming towards me or towards the team, I don’t think we need it at this point.”

Anthony seems to have been a bit blindsided by the comments from Jackson. He hasn’t talked to the President about them, and he doesn’t seem to care to either.

“I didn’t talk to him so I don’t know where he was coming from with those comments,” Anthony said to Bondy. “If he wants to talk about it, cool. If he doesn’t, cool. In my eyes, it’s over.”

Heading into a big West Coast trip, the Knicks are playing some good basketball with a 12-10 record. This drama between Jackson and Anthony can only hurt the Knicks at this point.

“I feel like we’re playing good basketball, and just to have a temporary black cloud over our heads,” he said. “I don’t know when the comments were made or the gist of them, I just know something was said.”

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Hopefully, the two can put this behind them quickly. The Knicks have a great chance to accomplish some good things this season. Having the President and star player in a war of words in the media will not help them reach their goals this season.