The historically woeful New York Knicks have little hope of salvaging anything this season. They boast an NBA-worst 5-32 record as of this writing, just traded away two rotation players from a roster that already lacked talent, and don't seem to have taken even moderately well to first-year head coach Derek Fisher's triangle offense. It's bad enough that the New York Times can openly mock the team's futility and earn positive attention rather than negative reaction for some presumed dereliction of serious journalistic duty.
It would not be surprising to see a team in such dire straits opt to spend the rest of the year tanking for top draft lottery position, and the trade of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert would seem to indicate that Phil Jackson and the rest of the front office embraces this strategy. Yet there would be no better pro-tanking decision than to sit star forward Carmelo Anthony for the remaining 45 games of 2014-15. Melo has already missed the past three games as he rests a sore left knee, and Fisher has publicly stated that the move would make some sense.
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However, Anthony himself is not shy about stating that he does not want to shut things down just yet. Yahoo's own Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Monday that Melo does not want to stop playing yet despite some pressure from the front office. The face of the franchise essentially confirmed that report on Tuesday in a video for Bleacher Report (transcript via PBT):
“I’m all right, I’m not shutting it down for the season yet, just trying to take some time to get it right. I know there’s a lot of fans out there that are kinda upset, kinda down on the team, kinda down on the players right now, kinda down on the situation, but I will say it will be greater later. Just be patient with the team, with the organization, with the journey, with the plan, with what we’re trying to create, what we’re trying to accomplish. Greatness don’t happen overnight, but that’s what we’re trying to build here.
“As far as me, I’m rehabbing. I’m around the clock getting treatment, therapy, trying to do what I got to do so I can be at my greatest.”
Context is important here, because behind-the-scenes videos like this one often present the athlete as intensely devoted to his craft and committed to playing as many games as possible. There's no reason to think that Melo doesn't have the desire to get healthy and lead the Knicks to a playoff spot — not that crazy an idea given the state of the conference — but we must understand that such a video will not include much doubt or really any misgivings about the value of continuing a very frustrating season. So let's not take this clip to mean that Melo and the organization are at odds or won't eventually reach some kind of agreement on his status.
Instead, let's focus on the potential effects of not shutting down Melo. It appears a fairly irrational course of action at first glance, because the Knicks have little hope of accomplishing anything worthwhile and stand to hurt their draft position if their best player helps them win any games. On the other hand, the Knicks are 5-25 in games Anthony has played, which would still rank as the fourth-worst winning percentage in the league.
The real worry here isn't losing games as much as it is potentially causing a long-term nagging injury to a player in the first season of a five-year, $124-million deal without seeing any meaningful reward. If Jackson and Fisher see themselves as leading a rebuilding process, then keeping Melo in the lineup would be a dereliction of duty.
It's also possible that Melo is more interested in saving face than he lets on here. The Knicks are co-hosting All-Star Weekend with the Brooklyn Nets this February, and Anthony has been projected as both a participant in the big event and de facto "host" of the whole thing given his prominent media profile. It would not be terrific press for both him and the franchise if he were on the sidelines when that time comes, even if he just plays intermittently until then.
In other words, this could be another case in which the Knicks let their public image get in the way of what will help the team get better. Except this time it doesn't appear that they're especially committed to that particular course of action.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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