Phil Jackson vs Carmelo Anthony: “He didn’t know how to be a leader”

Carmelo Anthony was the shining star of the New York Knicks for 7 seasons before being traded to OKC in 2017. While that era was one of the best in modern history for the franchise, it was far from orderly.

In Anthony’s last years with the Knicks, he has been grappling with team president Phil Jackson, who was apparently doing everything in his power to push Melo out.

And now, more than four years later, Jackson continues to shoot him, with the latest coming during an appearance on the Curious Leader podcast.

“Carmelo, I think, he wanted to be a leader, but I don’t think he completely knew how to be a leader as a player. And I think the strength of his personality has been intimidating to some of the coaches who have been asked to coach the team. And so there wasn’t this conformity that had to happen between players and coaches. And as much as he tried to interpose my beliefs, I don’t think you’re close enough to the ground in that situation to be really effective at dictating how things are going to be done. “