After Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd said his Nets and the Knicks both stink, coach Mike Woodson and Carmelo Anthony admitted he’s right: They do stink. But Anthony took it to another level, saying his Knicks are the laughingstock of the entire NBA, and there’s nothing funny about being a joke.
“We do [stink],” said Anthony, whose struggling Knicks are 3-13 for the NBA’s second-worst record coming into Thursday’s rivalry game at Barclays Center. “[Kidd] wasn’t lying about that. We do. For us we’ve just got to figure it out and try to change it around ASAP. We’ll find out starting [Thursday],’’
Brooklyn is almost as bad at 5-13, providing plenty of fodder to be lambasted on TNT, in-game by Marv Albert and in-studio by Charles Barkley. As much as the TNT crew might rip the Knicks, what truly steamed Anthony was that his Knicks earned have those barbs.
“It’s on TNT? I didn’t know that,” Anthony said. “I don’t care about that. We’re the laughingstock of the league right now. It’s nothing to hide. We are.
“That’s why it’s a big game for us. Do I like being laughed at? Hell no. I don’t like that feeling. But about being on TNT and [those] guys laughing at us, they got to do their jobs, and we want to win. That’s what I’m saying.’’
The “laughingstock” remark is the latest in a litany of over-the-top negative comments Anthony has directed at the club, a sign of his unhappiness with his free agency approaching this summer. Sources have indicated if he’s still this miserable at season’s end, still feels the team has “no chemistry” and is “not having fun”, he would take less money to go elsewhere.
Both the Knicks and Nets have woefully underachieved with Kidd saying on Tuesday, “It’s the rivalry and both teams stink.’’
Brooklyn has dropped 11 of its last 14 games and five straight at Barclays Center, and with Woodson’s Knicks having lost nine in a row to put his job in question, he agreed with Kidd’s piercing assessment.
“Well I mean, expectations were high for both teams,” the embattled Woodson said on his weekly ESPN radio spot. “I somewhat agree. We both do stink. We have stunk it up in the early part of the season.
“Well, we’re not playing great basketball. I mean, I think we’re playing better basketball than we started the season,” Woodson said after Wednesday’s practice. “Our first game was I thought an excellent game. We’ve had some good games in between.’’
The Knicks desperately need a good game Thursday, perhaps none more than Woodson himself. The Post reported that owner Jim Dolan went back on the vote of confidence he had given the beleaguered coach, and a loss to the rival Nets to stretch their skid to double-digits could make his hot seat even more scalding.
“Well I’m not even going to entertain it,” Woodson said on the radio. “I’ll let you guys do all the entertaining and talking about that. That’s not my job to even entertain that, because it is what it is.’
“You guys put it out there. It’s out there; hey, I can’t go get it back. I got a job to do here in New York to try to get our team turned around and headed in the right direction. That’s what I’m about.’’
Anthony said the Knicks are worried if they don’t start winning soon it could cost Woodson his job, but Woodson said he can’t let it effect his coaching.
“Am I going to throw in the towel? Absolutely not,” Woodson said. “I’m still the coach of this team. We’ve got a big game [Thursday] night, which I think we can win.’’