“Phil Jackson Killed That”: Carmelo Anthony Chuckles as Ex-Teammate Spills the Beans on Former Knicks Coach’s Controversial Tenure

What’s better than a relationship between Baron Davis and Carmelo Anthony? Most spectators would say nothing. But what’s the reason? Davis, aka Anthony’s mentor, has been publicly taking a stand for Melo for a while now. After openly speaking about Melo’s feelings being overshadowed by Lin’s popularity, Davis has once again turned the tables upside down.

The 45-year-old recently sat down with Carmelo Anthony to record a new episode of 7 PM in Brooklyn. A glimpse of the interview was then posted on the official podcast account with the title, “Baron Davis on How Phil Jackson Ruined the Knicks, Mentoring a Teenage Melo, Knickstape Era & More.”

During the same podcast, Carmelo Anthony shared the incident when he was forced by Phil Jackson to waive his no-trade clause in his enormous contract. “But nobody liked to listen to me, you know, like personally, you know what I’m saying….We was in the locker room trying to get in there. Listen. Trying to get in there. Like, he didn’t even know how to get a damn. Oh, damn. Like, can I see a BMW? Like, everybody in there. My mama got a f***ing furniture store. Bro, this is crazy shit,” said Carmelo Anthony. Meanwhile, Davis once again supported Melo, saying, “Phil Jackson killed that.”

Now the question is: What was the whole controversy about?

A tale of failed efforts

During Carmelo Anthony‘s tenure with the Knicks, Phil Jackson was the major obstacle. Interestingly, Jackson quite openly used every possible way to lose the superstar in 2014. And this was all planned to waive the no-trade clause from Anthony’s enormous contract with the New York Knicks (as mentioned in the podcast by Melo).

To make this happen, Jackson even discussed trading Kristaps Porzingis. However, Porzingis was presumed to be untradable, and this led to owner James Dolan reconsidering whether the head coach of the team was fit for the job. And, of course, the team’s insights. Interestingly, neither his coaches nor the players were ready for his coaching philosophy, nor were they ready to play.

Moving on, Jackson was canned, and within a couple of days, he parted ways with the New York Knicks. Though he thought he would fix everything, he ended up with a baffling tenure. However, he still has 11 championship rings under his belt as an NBA head coach. So why are Melo and Davis recalling Jackson’s controversial tenure nearly a decade later? Stay tuned to find out!