Want to stress this up front as much as possible. Carmelo Anthony is not talking about Jeremy Lin’s game, or how good he is as a player. Every comment Melo has ever made about Lin has been that he is a promising young player who can help the team win. This is not Carmelo Anthony throwing a teammate under the bus.
Maybe it’s a little like throwing a teammate’s wallet under a four-wheeler, though.
At comments from Team USA practice Sunday morning, Anthony told reporters a throw-away comment. From Sporting News (a lot of reporters snagged the quote):
Ouch.
Is the Lin contract a little ridiculous? Of course. Its a pointed effort by the Rockets to construct an offer to shake the Knicks loose of the offer. It’s a poison-pill aimed at being ridiculous enough to get the Knicks not to match. And it’s based on potential, not track record.
But don’t get this twisted. This is a player, saying that the contract another player, a teammate, earned, is ridiculous. That’s a strike where players’ care the most: their money. It’s not a personal attack on Lin, but it’s also a pretty stunning lack of decorum from the leader of the team deciding whether to match the offer or not. Whether you believe Anthony intentionally made the statement or it was a slip without thinking, the result is the same. It paints the impression that the Knicks think that kind of spending is absurd.
This.
From the Knicks.
In unrelated news, Anthony has $67 million left over three years on his contract. The Knicks have yet to advance past the first round.