It’s been a long season for the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony. Whether it’s Derrick Rose’s brief but unexplained absence, the James Dolan vs. Charles Oakley feud, or the seemingly never-ending drama around Carmelo’s trade rumors, Anthony has admitted that he’s struggled to enjoy the game this season.
“Mentally I’m good. For me, I’m trying to compartmentalize it and deal with it to be able to focus and have a clear mind. I’m just trying to play basketball and have fun,” Anthony said, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “Sometimes I feel like I am not allowing it to be fun with everything going on. The last two months has been about me trying to enjoy the game.”
It makes sense.
It’s easy to view athletes as commodities. In fact, as bad as that sounds, it’s understandable. Fans spend their entire lives cheering for teams. People have been Knicks fans since well before Carmelo and will continue to be after he’s gone. It’s easy to look at a team that’s never done anything terribly significant with him on the roster and hope for a trade.
But, Anthony is human, after all. He’s spent much of the last several weeks hearing his name tossed about in trade rumors. That, along with comments from Phil Jackson make it easy for Carmelo to believe that he’s not wanted.
No matter how many millions someone makes, that can’t be an easy reality to face. In some ways, Anthony’s situation is a little better than most. He has a no-trade clause and can choose where he goes. Still, the rumblings don’t go away. It’s hard to put that away and have fun for the few hours during the week when a game is being played.
The good news for Anthony is that he only has to deal with the rumblings for a few more days. Come Thursday at 3 eastern, the trade deadline will be over. Wherever Anthony is at that point, he will be free from any hard rumors until at least the summer.