New York Knicks: Still sitting at rock bottom

In the fourth and final part of the series, we find that the New York Knicks are still stuck in the same cycle of problems

D’Antoni’s departure

In part three of the series, we ended by breaking down the monumentally terrible trade that brought Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks. James Dolan traded away virtually all of the Knicks’ young talent to get the deal done and the Knicks’ season was just alright.

The trade would also lead to the eventual departure of coach Mike D’Antoni in mid-March 2012. D’Antoni pointed to a Carmelo Anthony ultimatum as his main reason for leaving. And for the record, he wasn’t the first coach to have issues with Anthony.

D’Antoni would also point to Anthony as the reason Linsanity ended but we’ll get to that.

D’Antoni wasn’t the first coach to have issues with Anthony. George Karl, who coached Anthony when he was on the roster for the Denver Nuggets had some pretty strong words about Melo in his book Furious George.

"[via BR] Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him. He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it. He really lit my fuse with his low demand of himself on defense. He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy. My ideal — probably every coach’s ideal — is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn’t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude."

The Bleacher Report article goes on to talk about other behaviors that Karl took exception to when coaching Anthony including how he felt when Anthony was traded saying it was like:

"…a sweet release for the coach and the team, like popping a blister."

For those of you out there who believe that Anthony is being blackballed and maybe deserves another chance in the NBA, here is the reason why he isn’t getting that chance. Teams bring in veterans for reasons other than scoring.

When the Rockets reunited Anthony and D’Antoni during the 2018- 19 season where D’Antoni would coach the Rockets to their third straight 50+ win season, it also wasn’t a good fit even though Anthony was reportedly willing to finally take direction. The Rockets parted ways with Anthony after just 10 games.

At the time D’Antoni resigned from New York, there had been rumors that he and Anthony were having issues but after D’Antoni resigned Anthony wasn’t stepping up to take any of the responsibility. ESPN quoted Anthony as saying:

"As far as that, it is what it is when it comes to that, that’s something I can’t control as far as the blame being put on me. I don’t sit here and complain about that."

Mike Woodson took over as head coach, a position he held through the 2013- 14 season.