ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been a more relaxing All-Star weekend for Carmelo Anthony. He now only has to deal with Jeremy Lin and Dwight Howard questions instead of inquiries about his potential trade from Denver to the Knicks or Nets.
Asked yesterday if there’s room for Howard in Brooklyn, Anthony said, “New York’s a big city. Why not?”
Anthony will make his fifth All-Star appearance tonight at Amway Arena. He will start alongside his friend LeBron James for the East.
“I walked into [Friday’s] meeting and realized it’s my first time on the Eastern Conference [team]. It feels weird, feels different, but it’s a lot of guys I’ve played with on Team USA,’’ Anthony said.
Anthony hasn’t had an All-Star season, shooting just 39.7 percent and has been the culprit in a lot of Knicks losses. But he has been wracked with injuries and only sees better days ahead for him now that Lin has solidified the Knicks’ point guard position.
The Knicks are 1-2 since Anthony’s return from a groin strain, but Chris Paul stuck up for Anthony on Friday, saying despite Linsanity, the new club “starts with ‘Melo and ends with ‘Melo.’’
Anthony said Friday he loves the Knicks’ chances of winning it all.
“I love the team we have right now,’’ he said. “We have a deep team and a lot of weapons. But it’s going to take time to come together. We’re learning chemistry during games and not at practice. The next couple of weeks we have a lot of practices and it will be big for us.’’
Anthony was hounded at last year’s festivities in Los Angeles as his sweepstakes hit its climax. He has been asked countless times if he has advice for Howard, Anthony’s response is he is just glad it’s not him.
“It was a zoo,’’ Anthony said. “Even during the game, nobody really cared about the game. They just wanted to know what was going to happen, where I was going to wind up at.’’
Anthony wound up in New York and he has been under the microscope ever since, especially now with his shot-making not at an All-Star level this season.
“New York’s the belly of the beast,’’ Anthony said. “Dealing with all the media and pressure, I had to go through last year dealing with the trade talk, prepared me a lot.’’