Carmelo Anthony fired back at former New York Knicks president Phil Jackson for saying that his tumultuous relationship with Melo was the reason why he never found success in the Big Apple.
According to Anthony, if he was really the problem on those Knicks teams, Jackson should have talked to him one-on-one and told him the real score while he was still there, not when he’s writing a book a decade later.
“As a man, if I was that much of a hindrance to you, why didn’t you have a conversation with me when I was there, instead of bringing me to your office and showing me Michael Jordan clips of the triangle and telling me what not to do in the triangle because he did it wrong?” This is the s—t that he told me. Instead of doing that, let’s do a real man call, ‘Melo, listen. I want to go in a different direction.’ We weren’t good,”said Melo during the recent episode of “7PM in Brooklyn.”
“While I’m taking those bullets you’re in the stands tweeting.”
Melo claps back at Phil Jackson after comments made from his book. pic.twitter.com/i3YfQFD9HJ
— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) November 3, 2025
Melo said Phil put the wrong people to play the triangle
According to Anthony, the Knicks had poorly structured teams during Jackson’s tenure, and there was nobody to blame for that but him, because he was in charge. Melo also said that when the Zen Master got there, he wanted to implement the triangle offensive system, which won him six NBA titles in Chicago and three with the L.A. Lakers.
However, Melo argued that running the triangle is not as easy as plug-and-play. It’s a complex system that needs time to learn. Aside from that, teams also need certain players with specific skillsets to run the system.
“You can’t put Derrick Rose in the triangle,” added Anthony. “That’s just not what his game is. Jose Calderon, you could put in the triangle. Can’t put Derrick Rose in the triangle. This is what was happening over there, and it was a fight. I fought for everybody on my team. F—k this s—t. We don’t want to run this s—t anyway. But let’s buy in. Let’s see if it happens. Fu—r won 30 games. But I’m the bad guy.”
Phil said his broken relationship with Carmelo was the reason why he left
The Knicks hired Jackson as their team president in March 2014, signing him to a lucrative 5-year $60 million deal. Given his excellent track record as head coach, expectations were high that Phil would turn the team into winners.
Instead, the Knicks had an aggregate record of 80-166 during the Zen Master’s three years there, leaving the franchise in a worse position than when he arrived. Phil’s tumultuous relationship with Carmelo in New York is an open book, but in his new book “Masters of the Game,” he said it was the reason why he left after three seasons.
“Dolan said to me, ‘Are you going to get run out of town by the media?’ I said, ‘I know who the media is; that doesn’t affect me,'” Jackson wrote, according to the New York Post. “But Dolan felt it was too much. He said, ‘I don’t want you to go through it. I know what it’s like to deal with these people.’ I said, ‘Unfortunately, my relationship with Carmelo is kind of busted, and if he’s going to be here, it’s probably best that I go.'”
Curiously, Anthony waived his no-trade clause three months after Jackson’s departure — he ended up getting traded to the OKC Thunder.
The Knicks posted a record of 196-216 during the Melo era. If you subtract the team’s miserable record during Jackson’s time there, the Knicks were more successful when Anthony was there and Jackson wasn’t.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Nov 4, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
