Amid nagging injuries and a lost season for the New York Knicks, would the team de-activate Carmelo Anthony for the year to preserve his career?
Atop the flaming pile of rubble that is the New York Knicks stands forward Carmelo Anthony, whose season may be in the balance given how awful things have gone for the blue and orange.
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Anthony has dealt with soreness in his knee essentially since the season began and given that the team has won just five games to date, Knicks coach Derek Fisher couldn’t help but wonder aloud when enough will be enough for the team’s star.
“From the conversations I’ve been a part of, I think everybody is smart enough to realize, calendar wise, timing wise, that there may come a point that that’s the decision that needs to be made,” Fisher said Friday, per ESPN. “But [we realize] that we can’t force Carmelo to that point just yet.”
Given that the Knicks just recently signed Anthony to a five-year deal worth $124 million, it would be a wise protection of their investment to call it quits this season for Anthony, who apparently hasn’t had the same thought.
“I’m playing because I love to play and I want to play,” Carmelo told ESPN prior to Fisher’s remarks when asked about the pain in his knee and how it would affect his season going forward. “I know what I can tolerate and what I can’t tolerate. The games I feel like I can’t tolerate it, I’m not going to play.”
One big motivation for Carmelo Anthony to keep plugging away this season is the All-Star Game, which is being held at Madison Square Garden this season.
If he can hold out and stay healthy enough to play at least in that game, this could be reason enough for Anthony to play six more weeks. Beyond then, everything seems to be up in the air.
“I think our medical staff, our training staff, continue to have conversations with him about where he is,” Derek Fisher said. “He’s conversing with us about how he’s feeling, what the symptoms are. And so as each day kind of unfolds, decisions are being made. It’s not something that we’re just kind of stepping back and saying, ‘Carmelo, you kind of tell us when you don’t feel like playing anymore.'”
Just two years removed from a 54-win season, the Knicks continue their slog through the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 5-30 record, which is incredibly not even the worst record in the NBA as the Philadelphia 76ers hold that distinction at 4-27.
For now, that is. If the team loses Anthony, you can expect the two basement-dwellers to be dueling more for draft position than for anything else.
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