Carmelo Anthony is trying to stay positive.
Trying being the operative word.
The 13-year veteran hasn’t played particularly well through the New York Knicks’ first two games of the 2015-16 season, his first appearances since undergoing knee surgery after last year’s All-Star tilt. Following an 10-of-27 showing from the field in the Knicks’ Thursday night loss to the Atlanta Hawks, he’s now shooting under 33 percent for the season. His defense has been much better, but it’s nothing short of shocking that New York has jumped out to a 1-1 start with its best player struggling.
But Carmelo Anthony is more of a big-picture guy now. He has no choice. He has devoted the latter part of his career—it’s safe to say his prime is over—to a rebuilding project. That takes patience, it takes foresight, it takes a stomach for losing.
On Thursday night, after the Knicks saw every shred of fight in them stamped out by a superior Hawks squad, Melo wanted to remind his team—and perhaps himself—that there will be more games like the one they just dropped, and that they would have to move on.
I’m neither paraphrasing nor quoting him verbatim, by the way. I’m merely presuming that’s what he meant when he said this, per the Wall Street Journal‘s Chris Herring:
Melo: "This is the first loss of many. This is not going to be our first and last loss." I know what he's getting at, but bruh…
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) October 30, 2015
Yeah…
Clearly, Carmelo Anthony is trying to set the tone that these Knicks, his team, will not be like the squads of 2013-14 or 2014-15. They will neither bend nor break nor overreact because of one loss. There are 80 games left in the season, and the Knicks, judging from what they were able to accomplish on the defensive end through the preseason, have a legitimate shot at entering the lower level of the Eastern Conference’s playoff conversation. They cannot lose sight of that or, more importantly, the fact that they’re not built to win a title this year.
Rebuilding is a process, and it’s one that, for the time being, Carmelo Anthony appears to have bought into. That he’s trying to set the tone this early, in ways he hasn’t during years past, borders on admirable.
But, like Herring said…BRUH.
Try to start articulating your thoughts better, Melo. This year’s Knicks team is smart enough to know what you mean, but still, it’s always best not to leave the rest of the world to read between the lines.
