Has Carmelo Anthony Played His Last Game With The New York Knicks?

By Fansided and Ed Easton Jr./FanSided via Hoops Habit
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The constant back and forth between Carmelo Anthony and New York Knicks management has finally reached its boiling point this week, essentially destroying any hopes of reconciliation.

The New York Knicks finished the 2016-17 season with a disappointing record of 31-51, continuing a streak of 50-loss seasons under team president Phil Jackson.

Jackson scheduled a special Facebook live stream of his season-ending media address Friday, taking questions ranging from the upcoming NBA Draft and the possible returning players for next season. The question that remained unanswered before the press conference was the future of 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony.

Jackson, calm as he usually is at press conferences with the media, gave honest and straight to the point answers for better or worse regarding the struggling franchise.

His feud with Anthony has garnered so much media attention throughout the season with trade threats leading up to the February deadline. The former 11-time NBA champion head coach set the record straight with reporters at the press conference that he no longer wants to do business with Anthony.

"We've not been able to win with him on the court at this time. I think the direction with our team is that he is a player that would be better off somewhere else and using his talents somewhere where he can win or chase that championship, Right now we need players that are really active, can play every single play defensively and offensively. That's really important for us. We're starting to get some players on the court we can do that. That's the direction we have to go.

"I've never criticized Carmelo — ever criticized Carmelo, That's all supposition by papers or whatever. Speculation by opinionated people. Holding the ball is not a criticism. That's what he does. That's pure fact. A person better be able to take that if they're going to be coached or else you can't be part of this organization. That's simply matter of fact. If you're a basketball player you gotta be able to be coached."

The seemingly blunt response from Jackson gives indication that the season-ending exit meeting prior with Anthony did not end with any resolution.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist did not take Jackson's comments well at all, responding rather quickly after the press conference on his Instagram and Twitter accounts:

The confusion from Anthony's side seems reasonable considering the optimistic viewpoint he gave during his postgame interview Wednesday night after the Knicks' victory.

Anthony acknowledged the power he continues to hold with the no-trade clause in his contract and told reporters his opinion on the team's needed vision moving forward.

"At this point it's all on me, I have a lot of thinking and reflecting to do. It's all on me at this point. I'm pretty sure the organization has an idea, a thought of what they want to do, how they want to do it.

"But at this point it's all on me. I would love to be back, But there's some things I would love to see different. Kind of just the mentality, just a winning mentality and wanting to win and being committed to that."

It's pretty disturbing as many Knicks fans sat watching Jackson's press conference while he blatantly and publicly tried to force a player off the team. Regardless of the relationship between the two men, it's a bad look on both him and the franchise when something so immature is hung out for everyone to criticize league-wide.

The next Anthony-related questions this summer will be which team makes a better fit? Get ready Knicks fans, the summer hasn't even officially started yet, but it appears as though Melo may have played his last game for New York.

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