New York Knicks News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Mar 3, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks president Phil Jackson watches during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Legendary Knicks Executive Revisiting Carmelo Anthony Fallout

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Oct 30, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Carmelo Anthony is coming off of a rather busy summer. Over the past few months, the New York Knicks icon has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, secured a cushy job as one of NBC's marquee NBA analysts, and, perhaps not as notably, watched as an old irritant squash their years-old beef.

Former coach George Karl had spent many of the years since he worked alongside Anthony for the Denver Nuggets in the mid-late 2000s criticizing the scorer's approach to basketball, only to finally end the largely one-sided relationship in the few seasons since Anthony's retirement.

But right when one of Anthony's loudest detractors finally called it quits, another outspoken former foe has decided that now's the time to air some grievances of his own.

Phil Jackson's turn as the Knicks' President of Basketball Operations didn't go as smoothly as his coaching career went, but little can compare with 11 championship rings in a 20-year span. No one could have been prepared for his mishandling of the mid-2010s Knicks, however, with the once-exciting eastern contenders falling off of a cliff to quietly end Anthony's time as a playoff regular.

Phil Jackson Re-Activates the Dormant War of Words

He opened fire on Anthony in promoting an upcoming book release, with excerpts revealing his intentions to trade the All-Star.

“[Knicks majority owner James] Dolan said to me, ‘Are you going to get run out of town by the media?’ I said, ‘I know who the media is; that doesn’t affect me,’ ” Jackson said in the Carmelo chapter of his book, “Masters of the Game." “But Dolan felt it was too much. He said, ‘I don’t want you to go through it. I know what it’s like to deal with these people.’ I said, ‘Unfortunately my relationship with Carmelo is kind of busted, and if he’s going to be here, it’s probably best that I go.’ ”

Former Chicago Bulls Guard Michael Jordan and former New york Knicks Executive Phil Jackson Robert Hanashiro via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Who Failed to Hold Up Their End of the Bargain?

Jackson notably clashed with Anthony during their executive-player partnership in New York, and the drama went beyond Jackson's insistence on an offensive style that the scorer didn't gel with.

The chief decision-maker accomplished virtually nothing after taking the post in 2014, the first season that the Anthony-led Knicks missed the playoffs. The pair shared a team for three more years, never winning more than 32 games in am already-talent-starved conference, and few of Jackson's hirings and transactions went as planned.

His coach hirings in Jeff Hornacek and Derek Fisher each fell flat, and the same could be said for his attempt at bringing in star power to ease Anthony's load. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah flopped hard as reinforcements, and his decision to trade JR Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cleveland Cavaliers did little to help the All-Star.

Former New York Knicks Center Joakim Noah, Forward Carmelo Anthony and Forward Kristaps Porzingis Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Kristaps Porziņģis returned some of the value that Jackson envisioned when he picked the Latvian prospect fourth-overall in 2015, albeit not with the Knicks, and Frank Ntilikina never proved himself to be up to the league's caliber in what turned out to be a wasted asset. The championship team around Anthony never came together, leading to more of Jackson's pleading with New York's management.

"I said, 'I don't want Carmelo back on the team; we've got to find a way to trade him,'" Jackson said. "I said, 'Let's sit with [Anthony's agent] Leon Rose and explain we're not going to win a championship. Carmelo wants a championship; he wants to be on a team that has a chance, and he should be; he's a Hall of Famer.'"

He'd only waive his no-trade clause months after Jackson left, ending another long quarrel surrounding the star.

This wouldn't be the first time that Anthony butted heads with an in-house shot-caller, with Jackson referencing conversations shared with a fellow thorn in Karl. The scorer's style could be labeled as exclusionary and directly relates to some of his lack of team-success, but Jackson played a much bigger role in the Knicks' most recent collapse than some of these surfacing clips would have the public remember.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: