Carmelo Anthony will recruit for the Knicks if needed and if the brass asks. He’ll work out, hone his game in preparation for a training camp that will have coach Mike Woodson from the start. He’ll plot out an Olympic summer. But there’s one thing the Knicks forward doesn’t want to do.
Watch the playoffs.
“It’s kind of hard for me to watch at this point,” Anthony admitted yesterday during a break in an appearance with Allan Houston for Jeep and USA Basketball in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. “I watch my friends, watch my guys play. It’s hard for me to watch, though. From what I’m hearing, from what I’m seeing so far, it’s a good playoffs, though.”
Yup, been on TV, in all the papers. Anthony and the Knicks, of course, were bounced in the first round by the Heat. Now Anthony wants to get back and advance. He sidestepped addressing what exactly the Knicks need to get there, and focused more on what they have and have built.
“That’s why I’m not the GM. I can’t really pinpoint one thing,” Anthony said at the outdoor event, staged with fans shooting free throws in wind and drizzle. “Where we started at and what we’ve created with myself, Amar’e [Stoudemire] and Tyson [Chandler], we want to build around that. We want to sign the guys back that we’re supposed to sign back.”
The Knicks have an important date next week — June 13. That’s the arbitration hearing for the Players Association challenge of a Bird rights interpretation. On behalf of several players, including Knicks Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak, the union contends Bird rights are transferred through waiver situation, not just trades. Should the union prevail, the Knicks could use their mid-level exception on another free agent.
“Whether they take the contract, or we pass, or whether they go to the court and it gets [upheld] or whatever, we just want to sign the guys back and then go from there and see what other pieces we need,” Anthony said.
And if there is a particular piece that needs a nudge, Anthony will gladly oblige and act like a recruiter.
“When I have to,” he said. “When the front office asks me to call somebody, I’ll give them a shout. If I feel that somebody can help us, I’ll give him a shout.”
Next up for Anthony are the Olympics which will “ease the pain” of losing in the playoffs after an arduous season. And then it’s a full camp under Woodson and “that’s big” because the Knicks will have a core group familiar with the coach’s style.
“I look forward to [the Olympics because] it takes away time that I can sit home and keep reflecting on the past season,” Anthony said. “I don’t want to think about that. I’m trying to move on from that, trying to get better for next season. The Olympics, it will ease my pain a little bit.”
Anthony said the highlight of the past season was “the way that we just persevered. It’s been a long season, but a short season at the same time. A long off-season with the lockout.
“For us to just have to deal with everything that we’ve dealt with, and the coaching change, and the players coming, injuries, just everything that came along. For us to end the season on a good note, going into the playoffs. We want to build off that.”