Carmelo Anthony says he’s finally done with the New York Knicks. It might be tough to move past your former team when they’re the opponent on opening night, but now that it’s over Anthony wants to put his Knicks days behind him.
That means talking about the team that traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder shortly before the start of training camp, too. Anthony told reporters on Thursday after the Thunder’s opening night win over his former team that he won’t be answering follow-ups about the fate of the team that seemed desperate to get rid of him this year.
“That chapter’s closed. That chapter’s closed. No more Knicks talk,” Anthony told ESPN. “We can just focus on the Thunder and moving forward and what we have to do as a team and organization. I can say that chapter’s closed.”
It’s tough to blame Anthony for feeling that way, as his relationship with the Knicks was a source of constant speculation for months. The organization clearly wanted to get rid of him, and Melo hoped that meant he would wind up in Houston with the Rockets.
But Oklahoma City was the landing spot, and Anthony seems happy there. The grand experiment of playing with reigning MVP Russell Westbrook and Paul George seemed to go fine, with Anthony picking up 22 points on 8 of 20 shooting. He did, however, miss a number of open looks. Though he admitted that’s simply something he’s not used to seeing.
“Offensively it’s on us to make those shots. I think for myself, if I can speak for PG, we’ve got to get used to those shots,” Anthony said after the game. “We’re not used to having open looks like that, being wide open for shots like that. We’ve got to get comfortable with that and those shots. Those shots will fall.”
He’s right, you know. Making wide open shots is kind of expected in the NBA, and playing with Russell Westbrook will certainly bring those to you if you ask for the ball. That seems to be the plan for the Thunder this season, anyway.
