Carmelo Anthony: Not shutting down

ByOhm Youngmisuk ESPN logo
Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Carmelo Anthony says he doesn't yet have any plans to shut down his season due to pain in his knee.

In a video on Bleacher Report, Anthony addressed speculation that he might eventually sit out the season with the sputtering New York Knicks (5-32) having little to play for.

"I'm all right," Anthony said in the video. "I'm not shutting it down for the season yet. I'm just trying to take some time to get it right."

Anthony has missed the past three games with the sore knee. While the All-Star has said the knee condition won't get any worse by playing on it, coach Derek Fisher has admitted that shutting down the franchise player could be considered eventually.

The Knicks have lost 12 straight games and 22 of the past 23 overall. Team president Phil Jackson traded J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in a three-team deal Monday and waived Samuel Dalembert to increase cap flexibility and save the team more than $20 million in salary and luxury taxes.

The Knicks received Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk from the Cavaliers and Lance Thomas from the Thunder in the deal. All three players have non-guaranteed contracts. The Cavs also sent their 2019 second-round pick to the Knicks.

"I know there's a lot of fans out there that's kind of upset or kind of down on the team, kind of down on the players right now, kind of down on the situation," Anthony said. "But I will say that it [gets] greater later, just be patient with the team, with the organization, with the journey, with the plan, with what we're trying to create, what we're trying to accomplish.

"Greatness don't happen overnight, and that's something that we're trying to build here."

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