Anthony met privately in the Knicks’ locker room with the family and posed for pictures before New York’s 103-65 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. Fearing additional media attention, the family did not stay for the game.
Anthony said Martin’s death struck a bigger chord with him because it made him reflect on the passing of his sister, Michelle, who died from a pre-existing medical condition in December 2010. Anthony now remembers Michelle while he’s playing by having her name stitched on to his sneakers.
"(It was) a blessing, an honor,” Anthony said after Knicks’ practice on Saturday morning in regards to meeting the Martin family. “We all know the tragedy that happened and just to get in a different space of mind right now, just bringing them to not even the game, but to the locker room in the back, meeting all the players, meeting the coaches. That was the easy part. We had no media there. It was just something that I wanted to do.”
via Carmelo Anthony of New York Knicks welcomes family of Trayvon Martin to Madison Square Garden - ESPN New York.
It’s a genuinely touching gesture from the Knicks’ star, regardless of your personal position on the circumstances surround the death of the 17-year-old in Florida in February during the All-Star Weekend. The family lost a 17-year-old brother and son, and while there aer many people waking up to that same nightmare tomorrow, anything Anthony can do to bring a measure of comfort or joy to their lives is worth doing.
We forget in the talk about Anthony’s resistance to Mike D’Antoni and shot selection how difficult the past two years have been for him personally considering the loss of his sister. It’s a reminder that death touches everyone, and leaves its mark months later. If nothing else, the short life of Martin lets us know that time does not heal all wounds, for his family, or the world that considers his death unjust.
