Call the day bittersweet. Carmelo Anthony turned into All-Star Weekend's lightning rod on Friday — something he probably is getting used to.
One moment, Anthony spoke of the thrill of being host of All-Star Weekend, being in the starting lineup as a Knick at the Garden Sunday.
"I want to really embrace that,'' Anthony said. "This is a moment that I won't ever forget. The Garden won't forget. New York won't forget. I really want to be a part of that moment."
The next moment he was talking frustration of a 10-43 season, his bum left knee that likely will force him to shut it down after the All-Star Game and the bizarre criticism he is doing the game wrong by playing Sunday.
In his latest flip-flop, Anthony backtracked slightly on his impending shutdown, saying he's not "100 percent'' sure he is finished after Sunday, and still has to talk to Knicks officials on whether he will play against Miami Friday at the Garden. Eventually, Anthony will need surgery on tendon damage in his left knee.
Anthony said it was "important" to represent the Knicks Sunday for the team's fans.
"It's like a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation," Anthony said. "Because if I would have said I'm not participating, I'd have gotten backlash about it. I'm saying I'm participating, I get backlash. I'm happy. I'm here participating. It's here in New York. The fans voted me in and I'm going to play in the game.''
It was a whirlwind day for Anthony, who was whisked from the Sheraton on 53rd Street after his 25-minute media availability session to Chelsea for an NBA Cares charity event for City Harvest, packing apples and potatoes for the hungry with embattled Knicks owner James Dolan for a nearly an hour. They smiled more there than they had all season, taking photos with kids and working on the project.
Anthony's day continued at a Players Association press conference headed by new director Michele Roberts and was capped at night by being a co-coach in the Celebrity Game at the Garden with Spike Lee.
But first Anthony conducted his media availability in which he defended playing in the All-Star Game and backed off making a definite decision on whether he's shutting it down immediately afterward.
Kevin Hart and Carmelo Anthony at the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.Photo: Anthony J. Causi
"I've played when I wasn't supposed to play, so for people to say this, that's absurd,'' Anthony said. "I've played through this since the second game of the season. For somebody to say I was waiting for this moment, yeah, I was waiting for the moment. All-Star Weekend was here in New York, so of course I was waiting for this moment. I played when I wasn't supposed to play, when people were telling me to sit out. I was fighting against them.''
Anthony said Thursday he "very likely'' would play Sunday and then not again until next season after reinjuring the knee Monday in Miami.
"I haven't made that decision yet,'' Anthony said Friday. "I'm going to see, I'm going to try. We don't play again until [next] Friday, so I'll have that whole week to try and figure things out.''
Surgery would take just eight weeks to rehab, so he still has time before his summer training.
"The other day in Miami, that kind of gave me a light scare,'' Anthony said. "I made just a regular move and my leg, my knee wasn't able to keep my weight. That kind of wanted me to move forward and try to figure things out. It's not 100 percent, no not at all.''
Anthony said he doesn't know if he's healthy enough to get enough minutes Sunday to compete for MVP.
"That's the last thing on my mind,'' he said. "Unless a miracle happens in the next couple of days, I start feeling better and play 30-something minutes in the game.''
Though Anthony said recently he planned to talk to some All-Star free agents about considering the Knicks, he realizes it may be a bad time.
"I'm not trying to recruit nobody this weekend,'' Anthony said. "It's hard to recruit people during this time. I've been on the other side of that. It's hard to do it, especially when guys just want to enjoy the weekend. Guys don't want to hear about come here, come there. I don't want to put that on anybody.''
It's bad timing, too, with the Big Apple a big refrigerator this weekend.
"I can't use the weather right now,'' Anthony said jokingly. "So if they're going to decide based on the weather today, it's a no-go.''
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