The New York Knicks are playing their way out of postseason contention, and Carmelo Anthony is fed up.
After Monday night’s blowout loss at the hands of the Toronto Raptors (New York’s eighth in its last nine games), Anthony quickly got dressed and spoke with reporters just long enough to question whether his teammates care about losing.
“We need to want to be out there, want to play, want to go deep,” he said, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “I think we need to take it upon ourselves individually. It’s not anything to do with X’s and O’s. We have to take it upon ourselves to take the challenge as a group.”
The Knicks trailed by 14 at halftime, and fans at Madison Square Garden booed them as they went to the locker room. At one point in the third quarter, some of those in attendance began chanting for the newly-acquired Jimmer Fredette.
“Regardless of the record, just losing, accepting that,” Anthony said. “It’s hard to accept that. You can’t be accepting that. I hope that’s not the case with the guys. You don’t want to get used to losing.”
Anthony said he needed to go home and “decompress a little bit” after his team’s latest loss. According to Berman, Carmelo started moping off the court with a half-second left in the game after DeMar DeRozan stole a pass and dunked it the other way.
At this rate, the Knicks have little chance of making the playoffs. A recent report should give fans assurance that Phil Jackson is protecting their future, but they likely don’t want to hear it. If Anthony is questioning his own teammates’ desire to win, things have clearly gotten bad in New York.
