Carmelo Anthony’s return will probably include a mix of boos and applause, but he hopes for more of the latter.
The Oklahoma City Thunder play the New York Knicks later tonight, and it’s the first time that Carmelo Anthony will face his former team. It’s only been three months since he was traded to the Thunder from the Knicks.
The experiment in Oklahoma City pairing Russell Westbrook with Anthony and Paul George hasn’t gone to plan so far, and there is even talk that they might trade George at the deadline so they lose him for nothing this summer when he can become a free agent.
Anthony expects to get some cheers from the fans at Madison Square Garden tonight.
“I think it’ll be an appreciation. It’s not like I was there for a year or a season or two seasons. I spent a lot of time there, almost seven years there,” Anthony said to NBA.com. “There was great times, there was bad times. Regardless, I always stuck with it. I always remained professional. I always came and did my job whether people liked that or not. Hopefully people recognize that.”
The Knicks would make the playoffs (barely) if the season ended today, and Kristaps Porzingis appears to be a budding superstar. The young big man has put up stellar numbers. It’s surprising how quickly the masses in New York have moved on from Carmelo, and it’s a shame how badly Phil Jackson treated the superstar in his final year there.
Anthony might look to move on from the Thunder sooner than later. He is averaging only 18 points per game on 41 percent shooting this year, and he might eventually decide that he’d rather play with one of his buddies like LeBron James or Chris Paul. Carmelo raised his hands in frustration for not getting the ball from Westbrook during the Thunder’s latest win.
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That is a trend that will continue for a long time, and that could make this chapter of Anthony’s career quite short. He hopes, though, that the crowd in New York will appreciate the effort he put forward in his tenure there. We’ll see.