OKLAHOMA CITY — All summer, Carmelo Anthony asked himself how it got so bad — so thoroughly bad — with the Knicks. He arrived amid fanfare and monster expectations at the 2011 trade deadline.
Anthony left just before the start of training camp last month, landing with the Thunder after a head-spinning turn of events with now-fired team president Phil Jackson.
“This whole summer I always said that to myself, ‘Where did it go wrong, what did I do?’ … I can’t pinpoint where,” said Anthony, who can’t give a when, either. “I can’t pinpoint the exact time.”
The who is a no-brainer. And it was “hurtful,” Anthony said, because he saw the start of a bright new era when Jackson arrived.
“I was always [thinking] I’m going to put my trust in Phil,” Anthony said. “That diminished after a while. I’m out here doing everything I can and I’m still getting stabbed in the back. I’m not trusting in that anymore.”
Anthony knew it was time to leave, especially after Jackson told the media at the end of season gatherings everybody would be better off with the 10-time All-Star playing elsewhere. When a trade did not materialize — and even as the situation went south last season — Anthony was prepared to return to the Knicks.
“I always envisioned myself coming back, even when I was being pushed out,” said Anthony, who joined All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George as the Thunder’s Big Three.
“I knew what was going on behind closed doors. I just wanted them to come to me direct and say, ‘Look, this is what we’re thinking’ and not have to read it or hear about it and go to them say, ‘What is this?’ ” Anthony said. “I was very honest and direct with them about wanting to be in New York. … I just didn’t feel like they were honest with me.”
Anthony acknowledged it was “hurtful” when he read critical reports that appeared to represent Jackson’s thoughts. Then at the end of the season, Jackson openly presented to the world — or at least the New York media — that Anthony should be elsewhere. Anthony heard that in his exit interview, one of only two times, he said, he spoke with Jackson last season.
“Phil was honest. He was as honest as we were going to be at that point in time within the seven minutes that we met,” Anthony said. “The way he said it, I understood it, I just wanted him to come to me and tell me that earlier rather than going to the media and saying it. … What he said to me was totally different than what he said to the media.”
It hurt because Anthony could have left in 2014 but re-signed with the Knicks — gaining a precious no-trade clause.
“If that trade clause wasn’t [there], I’d have been God knows where because he was just ready to move on at that point,” said Anthony, who felt Jackson would have accepted anything just to be rid of him.
After Jackson was canned, Anthony found a sense of worth from the new Knicks hierarchy, president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry.
“Something I respect about Scott, he was honest. Scott was very up front, very honest, he’s like, ‘Look, I’m not giving you up for nothing. I’m just letting you know that. I respect you. I respect your game,’ ” said Anthony.
After superstars Kyrie Irving and Paul George were dealt from the Cavaliers and Pacers, respectively, Anthony waited his turn. And the longer it went, the more he was prepped to return. Anthony felt he always took the high road, although there were times he was tempted not to.
“Yeah, there were times,” he said. “I would go home and, ‘I’m done with this, I’m about to say something.’ Then I’d just look at my son and be like, ‘Nah, I can’t.’ ”
Anthony recalled the joy of the 2013 playoff run “then it all crumbled.” J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were traded. Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire were next out the door.
So in one of the great ironies, he starts the new chapter of his career against the previous chapter of his career.
“Melo wants this. As he should, Melo wants this game and we’re going to go out and get it for him,” George said.