Carmelo Anthony’s Response to Phil Jackson

Carmelo Anthony didn’t hold back in expressing his frustrations.

After Phil Jackson’s recent comments regarding their time together with the Knicks, the former star player fired back, making his feelings clear during the latest episode of the podcast “7pm, Brooklyn.” “I’m just tired of these people,” he said. “That was insane. If I’m such a nuisance, why didn’t you just come talk to me directly when I was there? Why not bring me into your office and discuss it? You mentioned Michael Jordan’s triangle offense—how about having a real conversation like, ‘Listen, Melo, I want to go in a different direction’?”

Jackson elaborates on his rocky relationship with Anthony in his upcoming book “Masters of the Game,” set for release soon. The book, which discusses the 75 greatest players in NBA history, includes Anthony among them.

During Jackson’s four-year term as president of the Knicks, he criticized Anthony’s unwillingness to embrace the triangle offense, and described discussions with former owner James Dolan about moving away from him. “I sat down with Dolan and said, ‘We need to find a way to trade Carmelo,’” Jackson wrote.

Jackson reflected, “Carmelo wants a championship. He wants to be on a team that can win one, and he deserves that.”

Anthony acknowledged the struggles during that time, saying, “We didn’t have a good team. Jackson was in charge. No one was directing me on who to pick. He had this vision for the triangle system. I personally love it, but it just didn’t mesh with the current style of the NBA. We ended up being the laughingstock because of it, and I took a lot of the heat for that.”

He expressed disappointment over the lack of communication, stating, “I never spoke bad about him. We had very few conversations. If I was such a problem, he could’ve reached out and said, ‘Hang in there; we’ll figure this out.’”

Anthony shared that Kobe Bryant, who won five titles under Jackson, agreed that the triangle wasn’t suitable for the Knicks and the modern game. “Kobe understood the complexities,” Anthony noted. “You can’t just implement a system without the right personnel.”

In September 2017, shortly after Jackson’s departure, Anthony waived his no-trade clause, which led to his move to the Thunder.

Anthony concluded with a more personal jab at Jackson: “I was sitting with you in your office, having a moment. Instead of sitting up in the stands, you should’ve come down and coached. But I guess the team wasn’t good enough for that.”