Phil Jackson is hoping Carmelo Anthony will ultimately prove willing to do the one thing he has insisted all season long he is ready to do.
Back in February, the high-scoring Anthony, second in the league behind Kevin Durant, hinted to the New York Daily News that at this point in his career he values winning as much as he does the prospect of being able to pocket a few extra million dollars in any contract negotiation.
Now Jackson, the shrewd, 11-time NBA coaching champion that he is, is hoping to use Melo's heartfelt sentiments to his own advantage. "Hope that he is true to his word," Jackson tells The News of Anthony's earlier proclamation and his overhaul plan for the Knicks he hopes will close the deal.
Phil says Carmelo talked to him about taking a pay cut to help the club. Hopes that he "is true to his word."
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) April 23, 2014
Just this week, news surfaced that Anthony is considering taking the Dwight Howard approach to arriving at his summer decision, namely setting up camp on his home turf in New York and having all teams interested in securing his services come to him to make their pitches.
Besides the Knicks, the Bulls, Rockets, Lakers and Clippers are all thought to be interested in Anthony, with the Bulls and the idea of teaming with coach Tom Thibodeau and stars Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah perhaps intriguing Anthony the most.
"As far as the money, it don't really matter to me," Anthony added in his February interview. "If I go somewhere else, I get paid. If I stay in New York, I get paid. As far as the money goes, it's not my concern. My concern is to be able to compete on a high level, a championship level, coming in this last stretch of my career. I want to compete at that level."
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