Former Pistons Bad Boy and new Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer told The Post a championship team can be built around Carmelo Anthony, but he cautioned most NBA title teams are built around guards or centers, not forwards.
“It’s tough with the forwards to be the sole focal point and win championships,’’ Laimbeer said Thursday. “I believe guard play is imperative in the NBA.
“If you go back, historically there are very few forward-dominated teams that win. It’s either guards or centers, mostly guards. Because they’re the ones that have to bring the ball up all the time. When a forward brings the ball up, the game’s pace slows down.
“LeBron is probably the most rare example ever. I mean, even Elgin Baylor didn’t win a championship and he was like a LeBron James. But LeBron couldn’t get it done in Cleveland.
“[Larry] Bird was another example, but Bird had to be surrounded by Hall of Famers all over the place. It’s tough.’’
Laimbeer, 55, played on back-to-back championship teams in Detroit with one of the best backcourts in history in Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, and noted rebounding fool/North Korean ambassador Dennis Rodman.
After Anthony, the Knicks do not have an elite player and certainly no guard who belongs in the same sentence as Thomas and Dumars. So the question is, can Anthony lead the Knicks to the title this season?
“I don’t know that,’’ Laimbeer said. “Everybody plays defense in the NBA right now. And they’re in a series now with Indiana — Indiana plays tough defense. Indiana’s not going to go away.’’
Anthony led the league in scoring this season, averaging 28.7 points. But the last time a team won the NBA title with a player who led the league was in 2000, when Shaquille O’Neal, who averaged 29.7 points playing alongside Kobe Bryant, led the Lakers to the title.
“We’re going to find out, can he do it himself?’’ said Laimbeer. “That’s why for the longest time, the rule of thumb was, the leading scorer doesn’t win championships.’’
Laimbeer drew an interesting comparison between Anthony and Bird, one that backs up why he believes Anthony can be the cornerstone of a championship team.
“He has the ability to get a shot and make it,’’ said Laimbeer. “Could Bird get his own shot? Only in a post-up. Could he drill a shot with somebody right on him? Yes.
“But could he take the ball on the floor and drive like Carmelo can to 10 feet and raise up in somebody’s face? No, that wasn’t Bird. Carmelo can do that. There are very few forwards that have the ability to do that.’’