Carmelo Anthony: Cavaliers’ drama ‘comical’ compared to Knicks
By Tom West
In comparison to what the New York Knicks deal with, Carmelo Anthony thinks the Cleveland Cavaliers’ drama is “comical”.
After starting the 2015-16 NBA season with far more promise than a year ago, the New York Knicks are struggling yet again. They’re riding a three-game losing streak and have lost seven of their last 10, ranking in the bottom 10 for both offensive and defensive efficiency. Carmelo Anthony knows how real these problems are, and revealed that he sees the Cleveland Cavaliers’ drama as “comical” in comparison to what he and the Knicks go through (per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN):
"“[The Cavaliers’] drama is more comical,” Anthony told reporters at Knicks shootaround in Chicago on Wednesday morning before the Knicks play the Bulls. “It’s more getting off of Twitter. Know what I mean? It’s always something that they blow up. Him unfollowing the organization. Him shutting his Twitter down. It is always something over there along those lines.“Over here it’s drama, a different type of drama over here,” Anthony said with a laugh."
Melo is right. The Knicks do deal with a different type of drama. They aren’t caught up in Twitter speculation and cryptic LeBron James tweets, and instead face a far more worrying reality of their 28-43 record and 13th place standing in the Eastern Conference. Despite adding new talent such as Arron Afflalo, Robin Lopez and, of course, the upcoming legend that is Kristaps Porzingis, they’ll fall well shy of the playoffs again this season.
The Cavs’ problems aren’t quite as “comical” as Melo says, though. A few days ago they lost 101-122 to the Miami Heat and on March 14 they were smothered by the Utah Jazz’s defense in a 94-85 loss. As simple as it sounds, they lack the kind of chemistry, energy, and will to play for one another that they need as a team with championship or bust expectations. Especially when the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs — their likely Finals opponents — are so far ahead of them in this regard.
As for Melo, he expanded on missing the Knicks’ last game due to a migraine, saying that last year was even more challenging as his team stumbled to the worst record in franchise history with 17 wins:
"“No I don’t think so,” Anthony told reporters. “If that was the case I’d have had migraines every day last year. Last year was a lot worse than this year, just as far as, winning 17 games and figuring out how to approach each day mentally. So I think it would have been more stress on me last year than it is this year."
Even though Carmelo Anthony may have less to worry about than last year and no matter how many times he expresses his loyalty to the Knicks shouldn’t be questioned, some of his comments beg to differ. Laughing off the Knicks’ more serious drama doesn’t exactly indicate that he has much confidence in his team’s potential going forward.
Saying the Cavs’ problems — that clearly go beyond Twitter — are comical in comparison to his team’s is one such example, and if he wants to actually win and have a shot of making the playoffs, he may be regretting signing that four-year, $124 million deal after all.
If he does stick it out, he can sit back and wait for those headaches.