Carmelo Anthony is the Knicks GM according to Johnette Howard

Apparently you don’t even need to follow a basketball team to write about them consistently. This is what ESPN New York’s Johnette Howard proves basically with every article she writes. I’ve been wanting to tear apart some of her older stuff but this article, “Memo to Melo: You better win,” takes the cake for being the worst. Here we go.

For an NBA superstar in love with playing Hero Ball, Carmelo Anthony has a funny acquaintance with blame. Doesn't want it. Doesn't like it. He couldn't play nice with the Denver Nuggets and coach George Karl, and in New York his pattern's been the same with Mike D'Antoni, Amare Stoudemire and now with Jeremy Lin and that "ridiculous contract" -- Melo's words -- that the Houston Rockets used to lure Lin away from New York.

Right from the start we’re talking about media hubris and not actually what happened with the Knicks last year. What does she mean he couldn’t play nice with George Karl? When did Anthony ever bash George Karl or not “play nice” with him? What the hell are you talking about?

Also, did you not notice the entire team gave up on Mike D’Antoni last year? You know why? Because he’s a terrible freaking coach who’s mustache is too stubborn to change his coaching style to cater to the players in his system. He had Tyson Chandler doing pick and rolls, Amare Stoudemire standing on the wing, and Carmelo Anthony sitting in the corner or playing point guard. Does that sound like any of those veteran players strengths? He completely condoned a 23-year-old point guard to take the most shots on the floor. Part of being a coach is connecting with the players you have on your roster and that roster gave up on him.

Honestly, you really think Carmelo Anthony wanted Jeremy Lin gone because of one quote taken completely out of context? What is wrong with you? If you or anyone thinks, “Carmelo got what he wanted,” you’re insane.

Throw in the raft of players the Knicks traded away to get Anthony, and how shooting guard Landry Fields melted in his presence before drifting off to Toronto, and that's a lot of tombstones for Anthony to have on his resume.

The raft of players the Knicks traded for Anthony? You mean Raymond Felton (back on the roster), Timofey Mozcov (useless), Wilson Chandler (free agent anyway), and Danillo Gallinari? So honestly it was Gallinari and Mozcov for Carmelo Anthony in the end. You wouldn’t make that trade again? Why is it Anthony’s fault that Landry Fields suddenly couldn’t hit open jump shots? Are you going to tell me he got less of them with Anthony on the team?

What tombstones does Anthony have on his resume? What in the world does that even mean? Did he kill them too? 

The Knicks have never looked more like Anthony's team than they do right now. And now he better damn well make them winners.

Otherwise all the Knicks have done is say goodbye to Linsanity and hello to -- what? -- more Melo-ocrity?

Anthony better damn well win, all right.

Did you really need to space three times to say that? What do any of these words accomplish outside of being disrespectful to Carmelo Anthony? Anthony better win now that Lin’s gone? There wasn’t any pressure on him to win if Lin stayed?

He now has his coach of choice, Mike Woodson. And he now has an offense built entirely around him. He's capable of playing a more devastating and consistent all-around game. And that will always make the charge that he still doesn't get what it takes to be a winner fair until he proves otherwise.

I forgot that Carmelo Anthony is actually the GM of the Knicks. He actually anointed Woodson coach during his Jeremy Lin jersey burning ceremony last spring. He fired D’Antoni and hired Woodson apparently. Wow, just wow.

Oh, and what the hell does that last sentence even mean? I mean I’m not trying to say I don’t make mistakes when I write, but I’m sitting in bed with my shirt off eating an Italian Panini, you write for ESPN and have editors.

So somebody should tell Anthony to spare us the revisionist talk about how much he wanted Lin back, or his depiction of how lovely it was to be reunited a couple weeks ago with D'Antoni, now an assistant for the U.S. Olympic team. Anthony's description of that reunion sounded like a cheesy chick-movie trailer: "We talked. We laughed. We joked ... "

Okeydoke.

You just hate this guy don’t you? Do you actually research articles before you write them? Where were you when Anthony suggested Lin play in the first place or the countless other times he supported him throughout the offseason, including how he said he wanted him back before he called his ballooning contract ridiculous? Maybe Anthony and D’Antoni don’t completely hate each other as people but just couldn’t work together. Please stop acting like speculation is fact, you’re a journalist!

There were reasonable arguments on both sides for why the Knicks should or shouldn't have kept Lin. The most curious, yet believeable one? Numerous news outlets reported that Knicks owner Jim Dolan drew the line at throwing more money into the furnace now -- now? -- in large part because Dolan's hair-trigger temper was tripped when Lin went back to the Rockets and squeezed more money and a restructured contract out of them, making it harder for the Knicks to match.

Lin quit the Knicks as much as the Knicks quit him.

Oh so you actually did read the real story of why Lin isn’t back with New York? Then why the hell are you blaming it on Carmelo Anthony? James Dolan being an idiot has nothing to do with Carmelo Anthony.

But make no mistake, Anthony showed Lin the door, too, in much the same way he shoved D'Antoni out by blatantly quitting on him on a mid-March Sunday against Philadelphia, and D'Antoni resigned two days later. Since when does a team's superstar -- knowing management and his head coach are on record saying they planned to match their starting point guard's contract offer -- go public and call it "ridiculous," as Anthony did when everything was still in play?

Sigh…this is just ridiculous. Maybe he shouldn’t have been honest saying that it’s a crazy contract. He’s not the brightest guy in the world, that’s why he plays basketball for a living. The media made this a big deal and if you honestly think Jeremy Lin’s offended by these statements, (I’m sure he wasn’t) or that the Knicks management held any weight to them at all, you’re a crazy person.  He didn’t fire D’Antoni and he didn’t not choose to match Lin’s offer, you know why? He doesn’t run the team!

It's a good question, all right. So is this: Since when does a superstar who claims he's all about winning admit he didn't put out as much effort as he could've for D'Antoni, and then show up for Olympic team workouts talking about how he lost nearly 20 pounds after the NBA season ended? Think that might've helped him in his primary job for the Knicks? Even Woodson has said as much.

Is that how the deserved cornerstone of a wannabe title team acts?

This is fair criticism. If you made this the thesis of your article it’d actually be worth reading instead of implying that Carmelo Anthony runs the Knicks. There are questions surrounding Carmelo Anthony being a team leader and being driven enough for an NBA title, but why did you have to make me read all that other junk before you got there?

Anthony backtracked the day after he saw his remark about Lin's four-year, $25.1 million offer sheet caused a stir.

No, he clarified what he said because people aren’t smart enough to react properly. Guess it didn’t help at all.

He usually does.

Name one other time. Seriously, do it.

But he can't moonwalk away from this now: He better damn well make the Knicks win.

I don’t think he’s moonwalking anywhere. Again, is he going to try to make them lose? What are you accomplishing by saying this?

Anthony is the only one being ridiculous if he really believes -- as he's argued -- that he shouldn't share some blame for D'Antonis' and Lin's decisions to walk. He's insisted he's not a coach-killer, and the day after disparaging Lin's offer sheet while he was with Team USA in Washington, Anthony had the temerity to speak for both himself and Dolan. He said both of them wanted Lin back, though Dolan still hasn't spoken publicly on the matter.

Anthony also sent a text to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports saying: "I'm tired of people trying to blame me for the fact that the Knicks might not match. I want everybody to get paid if they have the opportunity."

Who sounds more ridiculous, the journalist trying to insult Carmelo Anthony or Carmelo Anthony saying he doesn’t make the GM decisions? I bet that he is getting tired of people trying to blame stuff on him that he doesn’t control. I would be too.

Anthony went on to add this lukewarm personal scouting report on Lin: "He's a good young player that has a lot of potential and upside with time and experience."

What an asshole that Anthony is. How dare he moonwalk away, he should’ve cut the number 17 in half and then placed the 1 on his chest because that’s 1 person he cares about in the entire world. Screw Amare Stoudemire, this is Carmelo Anthony's team!

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Carmelo Anthony standing next to the only person he cares about in the world, himself. 

Now the 23-year-old Lin is gone. The Knicks' major offseason additions have been 39-year-old Jason Kidd, who just caught a DWI charge in the Hamptons, and three players they gave away before: 39-year-old Kurt Thomas, 38-year-old Marcus Camby and 28-year-old Raymond Felton, the heir to Lin's starting point guard position. Lin won't have to worry anymore about J.R. Smith's contention that his contract might've caused resentment among the other Knicks.

That's the supporting cast Melo now has. When it comes to his style of Hero Ball, the Knicks are all in.

So Anthony better get a little less squeamish about shouldering blame. And fast. Because he's out of options and excuses, and he can't moonwalk away from this: The Knicks are his team more than ever now. And he better damn well win.

So your thesis is that Carmelo Anthony drove Jeremy Lin out the door so he should try to win basketball games? What inspired you to write this article outside of your hatred and disrespect for Anthony? I completely understand this is a classless ripping apart of your work but smear pieces like this deserve to be disrespected, not the best player on the New York Knicks. This is sensationalized and biased media at its best people.

For more on stupid opinions people have surrounding athletes like Carmelo Anthony, I encourage you to read my post from earlier today. Here's the link if you're way too lazy to scroll down.