Maybe the Knicks should practice a little role play this offseason.
Former Knick Charles Oakley says that Carmelo and Co. need to understand where they fit in on the team if they have any hopes of winning a championship this season.
“I think it’s all about how you view your team and everybody knowing what their roles are,” Oakley told The Post. “You look at Miami, the first year together, they made the Finals, but the second year they won it. They had a better understanding of their roles together. I think that’s what the Knicks need to do and players need to understand if they’re the first option, second option or third option. When a team is paying you $100 million you shouldn’t be arguing over who is first.”
The Knicks have their own “Big Three” in Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, but proved to be no match to the eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat in the playoffs.
For much of the season Anthony, Chandler and Stoudemire struggled while on the floor together, with spacing issues causing Stoudemire to average 17.5 points per game after scoring 25.3 per game in his first season with the Knicks.
“It’s up to Coach [Woodson] to decide how he wants to coach the offense,” Oakley said while promoting Moore Training resistance bands. “I think the problem with the Knicks is that their best two guys don’t make the people around them better. You see it with the Miami’s, the Oklahoma City’s, the Bulls, their top guys make others better. If that’s the case, I’m going to make sure that my top two guys have the ball at all times.”
The Knicks’ big three have all been honing their games this offseason, with Chandler and Anthony winning Olympic gold in London and Stoudemire working with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston.
“[Stoudemire] is looking to fine tune his game, because if you want to be successful in this league you have to change up your game,” Oakley said. “Amar’e is just doing whatever it takes to make himself better and for that I tip my hat to him.”
Oakley also addressed the most-recent “who’s better” debate that has risen after LeBron James helped lead Miami to the NBA Title and Team USA to the gold medal. Following the London games, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said that James is the best player he has ever seen play, including Michael Jordan.
“I don’t know why they started this, Jordan had six rings, LeBron has one, Jordan has six Finals MVPs, LeBron has one,” Oakley said. “I think the better comparison is Kobe Bryant.
“They weren’t even talking about this a year ago. LeBron wasn’t in the picture last year, but now that he’s won a title and a gold medal he is? It’s just more hardware, it doesn’t change the field.”
Oakley made the media rounds on Wednesday to promote Moore Training Resistance bands, which he has used to help train other athletes.
“The bands are designed to increase strength, power and cardio,” Oakley said. “I wish they were around when I was playing and they would be great today because I think guys are a little sluggish out there. I’ve been working with my nephews who are in college, helping them with their game.”
In addition to the media blitz, Oakley was in the tri-state area working with several charities that he is a part of.
“I’m glad to be able to give back to the communities,” Oakley said. “There are a lot of people in the world who have needs and I’m just glad to be part of an organization that helps to do that. My college coach told me to do at least one good deed every day and I’m happy to be giving back.”