The truth finally comes out regarding Mike D’Antoni’s suspicious exit from the New York Knicks in 2012. It was an ultimatum from star player Carmelo Anthony that caused the coach to resign.
The recent profile piece on D’Antoni, published by ESPN, contained the following unattributed line via Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News: “Anthony said the team needed to choose between him and D’Antoni.”
On the day of D’Antoni’s resignation, there was word that Anthony didn’t want to remain a Knick at the trade deadline if he knew D’Antoni would return next season. D’Antoni resigned later that afternoon.
“I just went in and quit,” D’Antoni said.
Bondy recalls D’Antoni’s interview on Adrian Wojnarowki’s podcast when the coach spoke about the rumors of players being resentful towards Jeremy Lin. He also recalled having trouble talking Anthony into moving to the power forward spot.
On the podcast, it sounded like D’Antoni had put the past behind him when it came to Anthony.
“(Carmelo and I) don’t have a bad relationship. I speak to him. He’s a good guy,” D’Antoni, who coached Anthony as an assistant with Team USA, said last year on The Vertical podcast. “But I had one vision that I wanted him to play one way. He wanted to go the other way. I couldn’t get to my way.”
