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With Carmelo Anthony as main attraction, Nets steal a win
NETS 115, NUGGETS 99
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By Jonathan Abrams
February 1, 2011
Newark, NJ — For Carmelo Anthony, this was hello and goodbye, what could have been and what may still be, all rolled into one speculative Monday night.
The Nets got the win and Anthony got the statistics, but no one received much closure after the Denver Nuggets’ lone visit here.
Anthony entered and departed Prudential Center as a Nugget — the Nets’ 115-99 victory in between — with his future still as murky as it was when the season began and talks of a possible trade between the organizations surfaced.
Less than two weeks ago, the Nets’ owner, Mikhail D. Prokhorov, abruptly announced the ending of the months long talks between the teams and canceled a meeting with Anthony that had been agreed to only a day before. Prokhorov, who was not at Monday’s game, cited the publicity the talks received, an abundance of mixed information and an increasingly high asking price.
“He took a real strong stance by holding that press conference straight off the plane, so obviously he felt strongly this wasn’t going to happen,” said Anthony, who had 37 points and 9 rebounds.
The oddity of the evening spoke for itself. Nets General Manager Billy King and Denver’s management unit of Josh Kroenke and Masai Ujiri sat within shouting distance of each other in the news media’s dining area before the game. Anthony said that he had little communication with Kroenke and Ujiri regarding his status, yet they stood outside Denver’s locker room as Anthony, their All-Star player for now, spoke.
In between saying “I don’t know” and “I can’t answer that” after the game, Anthony sounded as if finishing the season with Denver, then becoming a free agent remained a viable option. But he left the door open for other possibilities.
“If it’s playing this year out and then going back to the drawing table, sitting down with Denver and trying to figure it out, or whether it’s time to move on, I’m willing to do that,” he said.
Maybe the Nets have not given up. Shiny placards of the Nets’ future arena in Brooklyn — in its current construction state and what it will eventually be — were stationed outside Denver’s locker room. Anthony could conveniently gaze upon them on his way to and from the court. (Similar ones were also planted outside the Nets’ locker room.)
“That was interesting,” Anthony said with a laugh. “That was interesting.”
The crowd seemed as conflicted. His introduction prompted a mixture of applauses and boos. When he dribbled on the perimeter, he was booed. When he scored, the cheers drowned out the boos.
Anthony said the night felt no different, only that he wanted to rebound from a subpar game against Philadelphia on Sunday.
For a night, the Nets appeared to be the better option and raced to a season-high 63 first-half points. They led by double digits much of the game and maintained control after Denver sliced its deficit to 4 points in the fourth quarter. Devin Harris had a career-high 18 assists, and Brook Lopez scored 27 points. The Nets are 5-3 since Prokhorov’s declaration.
“It was nothing I had ever really experienced before with a trade situation,” Nets guard Anthony Morrow said.
Anthony’s future is yet to be determined, whether it is with the Nets, across the Hudson River with the Knicks or in Denver. A number of factors are in flux. Anthony could lose millions if he does not sign a contract extension before the collective bargaining agreement expires over the summer. Also, both Denver and the Nets are under first-year management, and teams are leery of letting superstars leave with little in return.
“If I sit here and tell y’all, I’m willing to lose $15 or 20 million, I’d be lying to you,” Anthony said. “But at the same time, this has never been about any money. In my career so far, I think I’ve done made enough money and I can just focus on trying to win a championship. That’s the only thing that’s on my plate and on my mind right now.”
More layers were recently added to the already complicated predicament. The Knicks are on the verge of hiring Mark Warkentien, who was Denver’s general manager last season, as a front-office consultant. The Nets and the Nuggets could revisit talks closer to the trading deadline in less than four weeks, although Prokhorov left no room for such interpretation in his adamant statement.
Anthony also denied a recent report that the Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire had texted him with his desire to have him as a teammate and to resist the Nets’ overtures.
“I read that, that he supposedly texted me or something like that,” Anthony said. “I didn’t get it.”
Through it all, the Nuggets are 28-20 and on pace to make the playoffs in a talented Western Conference.
“We’re probably ahead than where I thought we would be with the hand that we’ve been dealt,” Nuggets Coach George Karl said.
NBA News Archive:
2011, 2010, 2009
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