During a March interview with the Latvian sports magazine Sporta Avize, Kristaps Porzingis, who blew off his exit meeting with the New York Knicks, admitted, among other things, that Phil Jackson has made mistakes in handling the Carmelo Anthony situation.
Marc Berman of the New York Post provided the transcription:
The Latvian magazine also asked Porzingis about the Carmelo Anthony-Jackson collision. According to the translation provided, Porzingis said:
“This was a situation media did not hesitate to heat up more than it was in reality. I think there was some mistakes from Phil — things he maybe shouldn’t [have] said or written, things that made the situation worse or made him not look good. But at the same time — it’s that kind of business. I understand.’’
This is some nice hedging by Porzingis, but remember: This interview came before he bailed on his exit meeting with Jackson. His frustrations clearly grew and manifested into something else as time went on—that, or he was always planning to skirt his end-of-season chitchat with Jackson and didn’t want to tip his hand.
Porzingis is right. The NBA is a business. He wants Anthony to stick around, but ultimately, there’s a case to be made that Melo must be moved to advance the franchise’s rebuild. Porzingis has to cope with that aspect of this industry.
But the Knicks dragged Anthony’s (basketball) value through the mud during this process, and they haven’t even moved him yet. That’s a problem. It’s not good for the culture now, and it’s most certainly not ideal for a team that still needs to prove itself to outside players and agents. Porzingis was right to send a message to Jackson and the franchise that this crap won’t stand. He’s only 21 years old, but he doesn’t want the first part of his prime wasted on a team that can’t even get its own house in order. You can’t fault him for that.
