Carmelo Anthony on Knicks future: ‘You’ll see me here’
Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks looks on in the first half between the World team and United States team during the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge 2016 at Air Canada Centre on Feb. 12, 2016 in Toronto. Credit: Getty Images/ Elsa
Carmelo Anthony’s future with the Knicks doesn’t sound tied to who Phil Jackson picks as the next coach.
Anthony assured he would be with the Knicks next season in an interview with Yahoo! Finance on Wednesday afternoon. He has a no-trade clause in his contract and would have to waive it to leave the Knicks. Anthony has three years remaining on his contract.
“You’ll see me here,” Anthony said. “For the Knicks, absolutely.”
Anthony spoke at a tech conference in his old neighborhood in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn on Wednesday. Anthony was promoting his tech company — Melo7 Tech Partners — and his cameo in the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
During the event, Anthony sat on a stage with his business partner Stuart Goldfarb and answered questions from a host. The Knicks star only granted interviews with business and finance outlets and declined through a spokesperson to speak to some team beat reporters. A spokesperson said he wasn’t asked many questions about the Knicks, and didn’t say much about the coaching situation.
Anthony has gone on record saying he wants Jackson to hold an open and thorough coaching search and interview multiple candidates.
Two weeks ago, Anthony told SiriusXM NBA Radio: “As long as there’s a process and you go through the proper channels to figure out exactly what you want to do I don’t have no problem with that. If you don’t go through that process and you don’t at least look and see what’s out there, then we have a problem.”
Jackson, however, hasn’t interviewed many candidates. He met with ex-Cavaliers coach David Blatt, and had a phone conversation with Luke Walton, who was later named the Lakers’ new coach. With Jackson away on vacation last week, Knicks general manager Steve Mills made a phone call to the representatives of ex-Pacers coach Frank Vogel.
Interim coach Kurt Rambis remains a candidate to retain the job. He went 9-19 after taking over for Derek Fisher in February.
Jackson seemed in no rush to name a coach when he spoke to the media in April
“There’s no expectation on that,” Jackson said. “It could be July, it could be May.”
Another indication that Rambis will stay with the organization in some capacity if Jackson doesn’t bring him back as head coach is he is among the Knicks’ contingent at the pre-draft combine in Chicago this week, a league source said. Mills is also there, but it’s unclear whether Jackson is. The Knicks don’t have a pick in either round but could try to acquire one.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
