Knicks' Anthony Takes Issue With Those Criticizing His All-Star Game Crusade
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Carmelo Anthony doesn't appreciate people questioning his desire to play in the NBA All-Star Game this weekend at Madison Square Garden.
The way he sees it, he's taken a lot of risk playing as much as he already has this season, considering the knee injury that's been plaguing him.
"I played when I wasn't supposed to play," Anthony said Friday at an All-Star Weekend media session. "For people to say that is absurd. I've played through this since the second game of the season. For somebody to say I was waiting for this moment?" Anthony said. "Yeah, I was waiting for the moment. The All-Star Game is here in New York, so of course, I was waiting for it. But I played when I wasn't supposed to play, when people were telling me to sit out. I was fighting them and still going out there and playing.
"It was almost to the point the last couple of days I wasn't going to participate in the All-Star Weekend. People are going to talk. The only thing I can control is what I do with my body," Anthony added.
Signed to a $120 million-plus contract during the offseason, Anthony has missed 13 games due to injury during what has been a nightmarish 10-43 season for the Knicks, but is still averaging 24.2 points per game. He's missed two of New York's six games in February, including its most recent one, an 89-83 loss in Orlando on Wednesday.
The media then started taking issue with Anthony's insistence on playing in Sunday's midseason classic at the Garden, where he'll likely receive a lot of extra attention, especially since he's all but certain of shutting himself down for the rest of the season at some point after this weekend. The Knicks don't play again until Feb. 20 against Miami at the Garden.
A CBSNewYork.com poll conducted Friday finds that more than 65 percent of fans believe if Anthony is not healthy enough to play for the Knicks, he should not be playing in the All-Star game.
The superstar swingman said he feels like he's in a no-win situation.
"At the end of the day, it's like damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. If I would have said I was not participating in the game, I would have gotten backlash for that," Anthony said. "Now that I say I'm participating I'm getting backlash. I'm happy. I'm here. The game is here in New York and the fans voted me in, so I'm gonna play in the game."
Anthony said he would have considered continuing to play through the pain if the Knicks still had a shot of doing something significant this season.
"If we had a winning record and had a chance to make it to the playoffs, there would probably be a lot of discussion about keeping it going, but taking time off before the playoffs," Anthony said.
"Personally this season has been kind of emotionally unstable, mentally unstable just trying to figure things out and find our way. Then you come to a point where you just gotta start thinking positive about the situation, kind of just embracing the situation right now, whether it's negative or positive."
When asked if ever envisioned the Knicks having the worst record in the NBA in their first year under team president Phil Jackson, Anthony was blunt.
"Of course, I didn't expect it to be like this. I don't think no one expected it to be like this," he said.
CAVS' IRVING BECOMES A PRINCE OF THE CITY
All-Star Weekend will be a homecoming of sorts for another All-Star -- Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving is from West Orange, New Jersey.
You know you've made it when your banner is the first one you see when you enter the NBA's hotel in Times Square. Irving was the MVP of last year's game in New Orleans.
When asked by CBS2's Otis Livingston how important it is to be playing in the All-Star game in your home area, Irving said, "It's great ... a great opportunity to put on a showing for the fans. I remember watching the All-Star game. Now to be able to step on the floor and play with tremendous talents in this league, it's truly a blessing."