Tension? What tension? After the way Mike D’Antoni’s tenure in New York ended earlier this season, there were many who believed Carmelo Anthony could be facing an uphill climb if he hopes to make the 2012 Team USA Olympic roster. D’Antoni resigned from his Knicks position back in March and is the assistant coach on the US Team. It was assumed at the time that Carmelo played a huge hand in D’Antoni’s decision and that the higher-ups associated with USA Basketball were unhappy about it, but ‘Melo insists there is no bad blood between him and his former coach. In fact, he claims he’s excited for the reunion.
“It’ll be good to reunite with him,” Anthony said Monday at a Team USA promotional event according to the NY Daily News. “When he left there wasn’t any bad blood between me and him.
“He was a big part of the ’08 win, and he’s there again. I’m actually excited about going over there and trying to win a gold medal with him again.”
‘Melo may be “excited” to compete for another gold medal and he and D’Antoni may even be prepared to put their differences aside. That being said, there are few who will believe that there was actually no bad blood between the two at the time of D’Antoni’s resignation. Coaching may have taken its toll on D’Antoni and he obviously felt the struggling Knicks would be better off without him, but it was no secret coach and superstar could not coexist. Since D’Antoni is not the head coach for Team USA, and the roster filled from top to bottom with superstars, London is an entirely different set of circumstances.
Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE
