There are people out there who think very highly of Sasha Vujacic. Knicks president Phil Jackson happens to be one of those people. He even went to so far as to call him a “game-changer” and “significant force” when he liberated him from European basketball obscurity during free agency this summer.
But new teammate Carmelo Anthony hasn’t always held him in such high regard. In fact, there’s video to prove that below. But he’s also one of those players who, even though you loathe playing against him, you’d probably love to have him on your team. Anthony admitted as much about his new running mate over the weekend. Via Adam Zagoria of The Knicks Blog:
“I hated Sasha,” Anthony said after practice Sunday. “I hated Sasha. We got into it a couple of times. He was one of them little dirty players, sneaky, grab your jersey, foul you after the play. He was speaking in his language and now I understand what he was saying to me — it makes me hate him even more back then.
“Having him on my team is a big plus, knowing how feisty he is. He’s a vet. He knows how to play the game. He knows the system. I think having him is a big plus.”
Lots of people have wanted to strangle Vujacic over the years, but Anthony is one of the few people who actually tried to do so in the middle of a game back during his Denver Nugget days.
Decide for yourself who was in the wrong here, but the fact remains that few people can get under your skin the way Vujacic can, and regardless of whether that ends up being a plus for the Knicks this season, it’ll certainly be entertaining to watch.
