Exiled Carmelo Anthony sat baseline by the Miami bench Sunday at the Garden to watch his Heat buddy, Dwyane Wade. Anthony said he hopes to be more than a spectator in this arena sometime soon.
It was a night when Anthony and Wade received louder Garden cheers than any Knicks player.
Anthony, wearing a black “7” ballcap and sitting with his son, Kiyan, received a standing ovation following a video montage late in the first quarter, after which he was shown on the scoreboard. He said he hopes to be back at the Garden again, next time as a player.
“I had some great years in this building,” Anthony told MSG Network during the Knicks’ 106-97 loss to the Heat. “I look forward to coming back and playing in this building some more. The fans have always been good to me here, too.”
When the schedule came out, it figured Anthony would be here last Wednesday with the Rockets, who banished him two weeks into the season. It was not expected to happen four days later with the Heat in town.
“It means a lot — the energy is only good at the Garden,” Anthony said of the ovation. “It was very difficult for me to come out of the house and come to an NBA game. But if it was one moment for me to be here, this was it — to come see [Wade] finish out and play his [second-to-last] game at the Garden, knowing what he’s brought to this game.”
Technically, Anthony is on the Bulls’ roster after last week’s trade with the Rockets, but he’ll be waived once he finds a free-agent destination.
“Whatever is going to make me happy,” Anthony said. “At this point, I just want to be happy. I think I put myself in a good, peaceful mind state to able to focus in on what I need to focus on. Whatever is going to make me happy, we’re going to make it happen.”
Wade and Anthony spoke Sunday morning, though Wade claimed after the game it was a surprise Anthony attended. Wade said over the summer Anthony convinced him not to retire.
Wade, who received a huge ovation when he checked into the game with 5:03 left in the first quarter and promptly buried his first 3-point shot, weighed in on Anthony’s uncertain future.
Wade knows about getting old. Wade is amid a farewell tour this season, and it’s always a possibility this was his last Garden game, even if Miami plays here again in March.
Anthony is 34, while Wade is 37.
“It’s about the right fit,” Wade said before the game. “The toughest part is — for GMs, presidents, owners and players — is how to handle an aging superstar in this game. It has to all work perfectly. Everyone has to make the right sacrifices, has to be the right group and coach. It has to work perfectly when it’s an aging star in this game. Unfortunately in Houston, it wasn’t the right fit. But Carmelo can play basketball.”
Anthony struggled in his lone season with Oklahoma City last season, then Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni gave up on the Melo experiment after a couple of weeks this season.
D’Antoni warred with Anthony in New York, but Wade said he believes Anthony did right by the Big Apple, perhaps acknowledging neither himself nor LeBron James wanted the pressures of playing in the New York cauldron.
“I thought he brought an exciting brand of basketball for the city,” Wade said. “He embraced being here. Not a lot of athletes can embrace what comes with playing in the Garden and playing in New York. Carmelo embraced it. He had an amazing run here with this team. As an individual player he did some incredible things.”
Asked what kind of reception Anthony would receive from the Garden, Wade said: “Celebratory. He did nothing but be a great citizen in this community. Even when everything went badly with Phil [Jackson], he was still a model citizen.”
Wade said from their friends’ text chain, Anthony is doing well under the circumstances, despite being unemployed.
“His spirits are up,” Wade said. “Hopefully he’ll get an opportunity to get on the NBA floor, whether it’s this year or next year, and continue to play the game he loves and is still good at.”
“[Carmelo] was the one that when you came in here, he could put 50 on you,” coach David Fizdale said. “He made this place electric. Him being a New Yorker added a whole air to it. I know him being here tonight means a lot to a guy in the other locker room, D-Wade. They’re really close and really good friends.”