We know trade rumors had an effect on Carmelo Anthony this season, as the 32-year-old superstar was asked about them seemingly every week since January. But what type of impact did that have on the rest of the team?
A fairly significant one, according to Brandon Jennings.
Jennings, who was waived by the Knicks in February, said after his Washington Wizards beat the Knicks on Thursday that the constant speculation surrounding Anthony created a distraction.
“It definitely took a toll, I think, on the team,” Jennings said, via Ian Begley of ESPN.com. “Because it wasn’t even about basketball anymore, it was more about what was going on with Melo.”
Jennings added that Carmelo had to deal with “a lot of pressure on him dealing with stuff with Phil.”
“I think it was just a roller coaster, an emotional roller coaster for him this year with everything he had to deal with, which isn’t fair,” he said. “For a player to wake up every day and you’re hearing trade rumors and you might be gone and this and that. It was like a two-week span where everybody was hitting your phone, (reading reports) about Melo leaving.”
Jackson has been heavily criticized for the job he has done with the Knicks thus far. You can understand why, as they’ve missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and big offseason moves like adding Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah did not pay off.
Jennings didn’t go quite as far as one of Jackson’s other former players in blaming Phil for mishandling the Anthony situation, but none of that talk is a surprise. You could easily argue that Jackson has treated Carmelo unfairly.
