Kobe Bryant advising Carmelo Anthony on how to deal with Phil Jackson

New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has a penchant for making occasionally blunt comments about his team and his players in the media. Carmelo Anthony is getting used to dealing with it.

According to Anthony, he and Kobe Bryant have often discussed how best to handle Jackson’s public commentary.

“Me and Kobe have countless conversations about that,” Anthony said Saturday, via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

Anthony said he and Jackson spoke briefly about the team president’s most recent remarks, and he’s getting used to the new normal.

“That’s something I’ve learned over the years, especially with Phil,” Anthony said. “[Jackson’s] going to talk. Nobody can stop that. So try not to read into it too much.”

Anthony joked that he was going to keep the contents of that discussion private, but we’d probably be hearing about it soon anyway.

“I’m pretty sure I might be in a book,” Anthony said. “Maybe a couple of books.

The thing that seemed to bother Anthony the most was the specific focus on him.

“That was my question, was just, ‘Why?’ Regardless of what was the context of the interview or conversation, just why? … Why, every time, do I come up?” Anthony asked. “He explained that. It’s been behind me for two days. There’s no reason to keep harping on it.”

It’s clear that Anthony would like to move on, but it’s also quite obvious that he was pretty ticked off about the whole ordeal. It’s only natural that he’d seek out Bryant’s counsel on this. Few have dealt with Jackson more.