Metta World Peace was waived by the New York Knicks on Monday after appearing in just 29 games. In his short time in New York, World Peace had a first-hand look at one of the biggest disasters in the NBA.
The Knicks, who many thought had a chance to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, are 21-36 and rapidly sliding out of playoff contention. Carmelo Anthony has not been able to prevent New York from losing nine of its last 11 games. If he was more like Kobe Bryant, World Peace thinks ‘Melo would have a better shot.
“Kobe doesn’t give a (bleep), he just wants to win,” Metta told the NY Daily News. “Melo needs to be more demanding and he needs to see results. The only difference between him and Kobe is that Kobe saw results. When Kobe said something people did that (stuff). Carmelo has no choice but to make it his personality because he’s a great player. There are not too many guys like him.”
Anthony, who can opt out of his contract at the end of the season, has done his best to not be a distraction. He has said all the right things publicly and refused to blame head coach Mike Woodson for the team’s struggles. World Peace described him as a great teammate, but he has a point about Anthony’s leadership skills.
Talent wise, Carmelo is probably one of the top 10 players in the NBA. If he carried himself like Kobe or LeBron James, the Knicks might play with more passion. They need that and then some.
