It’s no secret that Carmelo Anthony was more than little bit resentful about the way Jeremy Lin seized the spotlight during his Linsanity days in New York. He even went so far as to call the contract Houston offered Lin the following summer “ridiculous.” ‘Melo, for his part, claims it’s all been blown out of proportion, but Mike D’Antoni, who was the Knicks head coach at the time, recently confirmed that Anthony did indeed have a problem with Lin’s meteoric rise.
No matter how much ‘Melo protests, he still couldn’t quite bring himself to offer Lin much praise when asked about his return to New York as a core member of the Brooklyn Nets. Via Marc Berman of the New York Post:
“He is the face of their franchise – believe it or not,’’ Anthony said after Friday’s practice. “He came up, they paid him. Now the ball is in his hands. Now he’s one of the franchise players over there. I don’t know what you want me to say about that. I’m happy for him, excited for him to see how it’s going to turn out over there.”
If you’re detecting a bit of ambivalence his tone, then you’re not alone. With Lin back in the Big Apple playing for the cross-town Nets, it’s tempting to try and paint this as a budding rivalry, but with the way Brooklyn’s roster is currently assembled, it’s difficult to imagine them being rivals with anyone.
(New York Post; h/t B/R)
