NEW YORK — With the New York Knicks’ off-court drama continuing to stir, even before Charles Oakley’s arrest at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, one celebrity fan said it’s time for a change at the top, while the team’s coach says none of it comes as a surprise.
Legendary director and fan Spike Lee didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d choose to keep team president Phil Jackson or star forward Carmelo Anthony with the franchise.
“I’ll pack Phil’s bags for him,” Lee told Tencent-ESPN’s Steve Zeng. The Jackson-Anthony drama stems from Jackson’s tweet on Tuesday that referenced a column published on Bleacher Report that was critical of Anthony.
“I think I still believe in Carmelo, but Phil Jackson is making it very difficult for him,” Lee told Tencent-ESPN on Wednesday.
First-year Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek, meanwhile, said he hasn’t been surprised by any of the off-court drama in his first three-plus months on the job.
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Former Knick Charles Oakley was forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden and arrested following an altercation in the stands near team owner James Dolan on Wednesday night.
Phil Jackson suggested in a tweet that he agrees with a Bleacher Report column in which Carmelo Anthony is portrayed as a player without the winning mentality of Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.
The team president’s constant public tweaking of Carmelo Anthony could end up hurting the Knicks’ chances in free agency.
“I kind of, not was warned, but it was expected that it was going to be something all the time,” Hornacek said before the Knicks hosted the Los Angeles Clippers. “And it’s lived up to the billing. It’s been something all year. So, OK, let’s go play a game and try to win.”
More strife surfaced Wednesday in the first quarter when Oakley, a former longtime Knicks forward, was arrested after he was involved in an altercation near the courtside floor seats where owner James Dolan was sitting.
Oakley’s arrest may take some of the attention off Jackson, who has — directly or indirectly — delivered several critiques of Anthony this season. He and the Knicks have also shopped Anthony to other teams in trade talks. The Knicks have reached out to the Cleveland Cavaliers but the Cavs rebuffed the Knicks’ request of Kevin Love in a trade, sources told ESPN’s Marc Stein and Chris Haynes.
The Knicks have also discussed potential Anthony deals with the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Stein.
Hornacek has acknowledged that the trade talks were initially a bit of a distraction to palyers. He said on Wednesday that Jackson’s tweet was a distraction but said he didn’t believe it sidetracked the Knicks, who were 22-31 entering Wednesday’s game against the Clippers.
“I’m kind of like these guys on our team. Everything that gets out there, you’re going, ‘OK, whatever.’ Hopefully it’s not a distraction for our guys, and our focus is on the games and what we need to do at practice,” Hornacek said. “We came in this morning. There really wasn’t much talk about it at all, I think, from the guys. This morning they were focused on the game, and that’s really what we’re trying to aim at. We got to get back and win some games.
“Stuff that comes out with Phil and Carmelo, Carmelo handles it great. He’s handled it great the whole year. When he gets out on the court, he’s just playing. He was focused this morning. So that’s our biggest concern.”
The column Jackson referenced in Tuesday’s tweet details the Anthony-Jackson dynamic, questions Anthony’s desire to win and concludes that Jackson and the Knicks, in part, “can’t want for Anthony what he doesn’t want deeply enough for himself.”
In his tweet, Jackson referenced Michael Graham, a talented player from Georgetown whom Jackson coached in the Continental Basketball Association. Graham and Jackson got into an argument in the middle of a game on New Year’s Eve in 1986, according to a profile of Graham in The Washingtonian. Days after the incident, Jackson’s team, the Albany Patroons, released Graham.
Jackson referenced Graham in his memoir, according to The Washingtonian, and noted that he had difficulty reaching him.
“Nothing I said made any difference,” Jackson wrote. “Whenever I tried to talk to him, his eyes would glaze over and he’d retreat to some dark inner corner nobody could penetrate.”
That Jackson compared Graham to Anthony, whom Jackson re-signed to a five-year, $124 million contract in the summer of 2014, is jarring, particularly given that it was published at a time when the Knicks are shopping Anthony.
Anthony, a 13-year veteran, has a no-trade clause and would have to agree to waive that clause before a trade could be completed.
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