It just keeps getting worse for the New York Knicks.
Carmelo Anthony was apparently dealing with migraines after the first quarter of the Knicks’ Saturday night loss to the Washington Wizards, during which New York blew an 18-point lead, because of course. Head coach Kurt Rambis kept playing anyway. In fact, he let him log 40 minutes, during a loss, because fuck it, right? Melo is only 31 and, along with Kristaps Porzingis, is the only chance New York has at returning to respectability sometime in the near future.
The Knicks played the responsible parent on Sunday in their loss to the Sacramento Kings—yes, the Kings—sitting Anthony as he continues to battle migraines. His outlook remains unclear, per the New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy:
The sellout crowd rarely raised the decibel level above library, but Anthony’s headache trigger was light, not noise.
“When we had our walkthrough he said he was good at the very beginning of it, then I guess as we stayed out there longer he became more light sensitive,” interim coach Kurt Rambis said. “Then I checked with our medical staff to see what else was ailing him and they tried to give him some treatment, tried to put him in a dark room to calm things down, but he wasn’t getting any better.”
There are only 11 games remaining in this disastrous season for the Knicks, so unless they’re hell-bent on doubling last year’s win total by reaching 34 victories, perhaps they should consider giving Anthony the rest of the campaign, playing him only when New York hosts its final home game or something.
They probably won’t do that, of course, because they aren’t a responsible franchise overall. Melo, to the Knicks’ credit, probably won’t stand for it, either.
In terms of watchable basketball, the fact that this migraine stuff isn’t considered overly serious is good news. The Knicks border on unwatchable with Melo but are absolutely unseemly without him. They score like a top-10 offense when he’s in the game, according to NBA.com, but pump in points like a 29th-place attack when he sits—which, truthfully, is too much yuck for a team that plays like crap no matter what personnel is available.
