Carmelo Anthony didn’t exactly say he’s ready to “retire in New York’’ Thursday, but denied he has made the decision to leave the Knicks this summer as a free agent, saying it would be “selfish’’ to think along those lines right now.
ESPN Radio’s Stephen A. Smith stated on air Wednesday Anthony already has made his decision to leave. Of course to do so, Anthony would have to take $33 million less to sign elsewhere under collective bargaining agreement rules. But after he called the Knicks franchise the league’s “laughingstock,’’ it continued a noteworthy pattern in which he seems grossly unhappy in New York.
“I don’t think nobody goes where [they are] expecting to lose,’’ Anthony said before Thursday’s game against the Nets at Barclays Center. “I’m going through it and dealing with it. As far as me leaving and thinking about it, I’d be selfish to think about it at this point. With us losing and going through the situation we’re going through, I’d be selfish on my part, to my teammates, to the organization to even have that thought come across my mind.’’
Sources have indicated to The Post if the Knicks’ collapse continues this season, Anthony is likely to take less money and avoid a losing situation in New York. Anthony himself Thursday implied he doesn’t want to be in a non-winning environment. The Knicks were 3-13 entering Thursday’s Brooklyn Bridge Bums Battle.
“I’m not even thinking about it at this point,’’ Anthony said. “I don’t know who [Smith’s] sources are. I’m not thinking about it at all. It’s not coming from me and it’s not coming from the people I talk to on a daily basis. I don’t talk to anybody about that on my crew, on my team, family. It’s not true.’’
While Anthony said he has made no decision, his remarks seems quite different in tone than what he said on TNT Halloween night before the Knicks played in Chicago, claiming he wanted to “retire in New York.’’ The Knicks were 1-0 at the time.
“They pulled all the strings to get me here, and I wanted to be here,” Anthony said in the TV interview.
“And I want to retire in New York, let’s be quite frank. I think a lot of people jumped the gun when I said I wanted to be a free agent. And yeah, I want people to come to play in New York. I want them to want to play in New York. I want New York to be that place where guys want to come play in New York.”
Anthony has been absolutely morose this season, making comments about the club having “no chemistry’’, having “no fun’’ and being in “a dark space.’’
The Post reported in late May after the second-round playoff knockout by Indiana that Anthony hoped the organization would add a secondary scoring star to the mix to help him. Andrea Bargnani has attempted to play that role, but his weakness on defense overshadows his scoring ability (15.3 points a game, 46.6 shooting percentage).
“Nobody ever expected this,’’ Anthony said Thursday. “We’re going through it, dealing with it. We got to start winning some basketball games. Everything else is secondary at this point. For us trying to stay mentally strong, doing what we got to do to win basketball games. It starts [Thursday], trying to get confidence back as a team.’’
Anthony said his Denver teams never experienced a nine-game losing streak such as the Knicks were on entering Thursday.
“I’ve never dealt with anything like this,’’ he said. “It’s definitely a challenge for me to stay positive at this time, keep my team strong mentally.’’
When Nets coach Jason Kidd was asked about defending Anthony before the game, he said of his former teammate, “He’s one of the best in the world.’’