Carmelo Anthony is set to begin his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night when they take on his former team, the New York Knicks. It’s the second time this season we’ve seen a star go up against his former team in the seasons opener, as Kyrie Irving did the same as the Celtics lost to the Cavs on Tuesday.
Anthony has not been afraid to speak out about his time in New York and how things soured over the last year to the point where his relationship with the franchise was irreconcilable. Much of the blame for that falls on Phil Jackson, who was fired this summer after his many efforts to push Anthony out of New York.
In September, Anthony got his wish to be traded and waived his no-trade clause to join Russell Westbrook and Paul George in Oklahoma City. Thursday’s opener for the Thunder will be undoubtedly be emotional for Anthony, going up against his former team, although probably not as intense as his first game back in the Garden.
Ahead of that matchup, Anthony took to Twitter to post a motivational message to seemingly himself, and also send a message about how he felt about the end of his Knicks tenure.
“You Watched Me Walk Through Hell, Now Watch Me Walk Up Out It”#STAYME7O pic.twitter.com/w9h0LgAqv4
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) October 19, 2017
“You Watched Me Walk Through Hell, Now Watch Me Walk Up Out It,” is quite the caption, and would seem to indicate that he’s pleased to no longer be in the dysfunctional franchise that the Knicks have become. Anthony will finally be back on a contender this season in Oklahoma City and he seems very excited about the possibilities of a return to the playoffs.
At this point, I doubt there are many Knicks fans that would object to Anthony’s classification of the Knicks organization as “Hell,” but they’re hoping that new leadership can finally start turning the franchise in the right direction.
