Knicks forward Lance Thomas experienced an injury-marred season, starting with plantar fasciitis in both feet, a fractured orbital bone and a mysterious hip injury that ended his season with 11 games left.
But Thomas appears just as pained that Carmelo Anthony is being used by management as a scapegoat for a season gone horribly wrong.
Knicks president Phil Jackson declared the team can’t win with him and wants him out, making innuendos the club needs more active, defensive-oriented players such as Thomas.
Jackson also indicated Anthony’s leadership was lacking, citing “rebellion from the top’’ to Jackson’s triangle offense.
Thomas, a Brooklyn native like Anthony, is perhaps biased, calling Anthony “one of my best friends.’’ Thomas is also one of the NBA’s hardest workers — the club’s most zealous defender — so his words have an impact. According to Thomas, Anthony was not the problem.
“I love him here,’’ Thomas told The Post in his first comments to the media since his season-ending injury in Utah on March 22 after which he disappeared from the locker room. “I love him as a teammate, love him as a competitor, love him as a person. Everything else is out of my control, but his approach has always been great.
He’s an amazing professional. I’m not going to comment on what’s happening with him and the organization and trade rumors. I just know I love him as a teammate. I want it to work out.’’
If there’s a perception Anthony cares more about his brand than winning and his teammates, Thomas sought to dispel it, saying his fellow Knicks hold deep “respect’’ for the 10-time All-Star.
“Carmelo fights for his teammates,’’ Thomas said. “He loves to win. Every player in this league, when losing happens, frustration builds up and we’re in the biggest market in the world. Everything is under a magnifying glass here. But he has a passion for winning and bringing it under the biggest microscope. He’s embraced New York and has fought for the Knicks for so long. He’s done an amazing job remaining healthy and being a class act when things have been in an uproar for our team. I can only applaud his approach in everything he’s done — all of the white noise around him.
“He’s done a great job of being a professional and remaining a leader for our team. For me to watch him go through it, for the younger players to see the level of focus, putting all that stuff aside and remaining a veteran leader for the team, I can only hope that when I become a veteran later in my career, my teammates have utmost respect for me the way we have for Carmelo.’’
If Anthony is gone, according to a team source, management wants Thomas to step up as one of the locker-room leaders next season, especially because he’s a defensive specialist. While Anthony lost a step on defense this season, Thomas suggested no one player can be blamed for the club’s season-long defensive woes (ranking 25th in defensive efficiency).
“I don’t think it’s fair to pinpoint anything on one player — defense is a team game,’’ Thomas said. “Collectively our whole mindset has to be that — from our coaching staff to the last player on the bench.
“Players have different skill sets. There’s players really capable of being great defenders. There’s guys who aren’t as capable. Regardless, it’s a team game. If it takes a guy like myself to overexert himself on defense to complement other players on the team, I’ll do that. Everyone has to be willing to do that. It’s not on one player. Teams that are winning are playing great defense. If we want to be one of those teams, we have to do that.’’
Thomas dismissed a prevailing theme the Knicks didn’t buy into the triangle offense, which the club started using much more frequently in the week leading up the All-Star break. By then, the Knicks were all but out of the playoff race. The Knicks (31-51) didn’t win consecutive games after Christmas.
“A lot of games we lost were single-digits, close games where we didn’t get a defensive stop when we needed,’’ Thomas said. “We just needed to get tough stops when it mattered. As a team we sold ourselves short. Plays you look back maybe we could’ve dove for a loose ball, contested a shot better, gotten a certain rebound. I wouldn’t place the blame on everyone not buying in. As a competitor you figure out whatever it takes to win. You do it regardless of things out of your control.’’
Thomas, who played in 46 games, revealed his “hip popped out’’ as he lunged awkwardly for a loose ball during that March game in Utah. Thomas saved the possession and called a timeout, but his season was done. He said if the Knicks were in a playoff race, he would have gotten an injection to make it back for the final few games. The medical staff, knowing his floor-burn style could lead to further damage, shut him down.
Thomas just returned — healthy — from a long fishing expedition in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We have really good players, we need to create a mindset of being more tenacious on defense and do the little things to win games,’’ he said.