Melo: "I don't care about the money"

[Inferno]

LAS VEGAS -- Carmelo Anthony said it was not the money, but instead his confidence in team president Phil Jackson and his belief that the New York Knicks "aren't that far away from contending for an NBA title," that made him opt to remain in New York instead of signing with the Chicago Bulls.

"I want to win. I don't care about the money," Anthony told ESPN.com. "I believe Phil will do what he has to do to take care of that.

"I don't think we're that far away," he added. "People use 'rebuilding' too loosely."

"It was overwhelming," Anthony said. "It was stressful in the final days, one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make."

Anthony said, though, it ultimately came down to New York and Chicago.

"I was flip-flopping," he admitted. "It was hard. It was Chicago, but then after I met with L.A., it was L.A. But it came back to Chicago -- and was pretty much always Chicago or New York. That's a situation where I could have walked in now to an opportunity to compete for the next however many years."

But the 30-year-old Anthony said he is invigorated to work with a new team president in Phil Jackson and a new coach in Derek Fisher.

"It's a matter of me believing in the organization, believing in Phil," Anthony said. "I wanted to go somewhere where I can end my career."

Anthony, who was second in the league in scoring last season at 27.4 points per game, met with several teams throughout the process: the Bulls, Lakers, Mavericks and Rockets.

He joins a retooled Knicks club that dealt away Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton in exchange for point guard Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin and Wayne Ellington. The Knicks also drafted talented forward Cleanthony Early and added free agent Jason Smith. New York returns Anthony, J.R. Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Andrea Bargnani -- as well as an aging Amar'e Stoudemire.

"I feel like we have a brand-new team," Anthony said. "It's a new beginning. It's excited."

Anthony said he felt LeBron James' move back to Cleveland opened up the Eastern Conference.

"It balances everything out," he said. "There's balance from one to eight right now. The East is balanced."

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/sto...anthony-talks-decision-return-new-york-knicks

 

[killacal]

x1000

 

[HalfwayHandsome]

if it ain't about the money, don't be calling my line nikka I ain't picking up

 

[Shamrock32]

I loved the report that came out the day after Melo agreed to stay... "Carmelo refuses to take max."

.......... takes like $5 million less.....

 

[Big Boss]

 

[TKOK]

:

 

[SpursFanSinceNovember2017]

This is propaganda to condition black players to take less money.

 

[jfkennedy]

I want to say, "fukk outta here, it's definitely about the money. "

But ... maybe when you're already sitting on a hundred m's, it isn't ...

Spoiler

Nah, fukk that, it's definitely about the money.

 

[BigE214]

Stand up guy

 

[Supercoolmayo]

Taking a paycut to make the team better

 

[Born2BKing]

Knicks are at least 4 years away from competing. Melo know he is never winning shyt

 

[Hater]

If we really wanted to win he would've signed with Chicago.

 

[Da_Eggman]

If you ain't in this game for the motherfukkin' cash, man/Then what is your motherfukkin' purpose?

 

[cornercommission2k12]

Not mad at melo taking the money

But no sense to insult everyone's intelligence

Just keep it a buck and say "I had to do what's best for my family" and keep it pushing

You hear people calling you money hungry and it made you feel some kind of way

So you come with this dumb ass response

Just better to not say shyt

 

[beenz]

Not mad at melo taking the money

But no sense to insult everyone's intelligence

Just keep it a buck and say "I had to do what's best for my family" and keep it pushing

You hear people calling you money hungry and it made you feel some kind of way

So you come with this dumb ass response

Just better to not say shyt

Him saying saying he wants to win, and then signing with the Knicks is an insult to all of our intelligence. Speaking of money, why didn't he take the full max??? Not like they can sign a quality player with the crumbs he left on the table anyways.