Keith J. Kelly

Keith J. Kelly

Media

Sports Illustrated Photoshopped Carmelo onto cover

It remains to be seen if Carmelo Anthony’s appearance on the cover of a March 24 regional edition of Sports Illustrated qualifies him for the dreaded SI cover jinx.

Or maybe his Knicks deserve not to make the playoffs.

It certainly seemed to curse the once highly touted Syracuse University hoops team, which was represented on that March cover by Tyler Ennis — surrounding by student fans.

Anthony appears in the upper right corner of the photo. While it looked like the NBA superstar had returned to the campus to cheer on Ennis, it was all a Photoshop illusion.

Anthony was added to the photo via computer.

The jinx seemed to hit Ennis hard as he missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of a game and No. 3 seed Syracuse was bounced in the third round by No. 11 Dayton.

Other regional covers also featured Photoshopped former college stars — Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves and Wichita State’s Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel.

Both went down to defeat.

SI said it cleared the Photoshopping with the stars ahead of time.

“They are fun,” said an SI spokesman. “The covers reflect the spirit and enthusiasm of the tournament and its heroes.”