Kristaps, may I call you Kristaps? Kristaps, if you you want to succeed in New York and stay a happy and successful New York Knickerbocker for the majority of your career you must heed this warning: Stay Away From Carmelo Anthony.
Pay no attention to him. Do not adopt his mentality as a teammate and do not make him your mentor. Now let me explain why.
Moments after you were drafted Anthony's first communication to the world were messages filled with negative innuendos.
The first tweet was:"What's understood doesn't need to be spoken upon." Now what kind of fucking shit is that?
He couldn't even muster up enough class to even fawn being a good teammate and welcoming you to the city and the Knicks. He acted like a straight up bitch and a child.
He could have said 'I don't know much about the young man but he had great workouts, I trust Phil Jackson and our scouting staff and welcome both young men with open arms and I will help to make them as successful as I can'.
But, did you get that Kristaps? You got a guy who can't even keep his displeasure in house. He had to display all his immaturity and lack of leadership for the world to see.
Anthony then went on to send out the hashtag "#TheFutureIsNow". We both can easily interpret this to mean that he is the team and the Knicks had better start worrying about right now when he is the star and focal point. What class, what a mentor.
No Kristaps, I am not saying be disrespectful to Anthony or anyone else in your organization. You have lots of work to do and if you displayed such immaturity in response you will be vilified even before you step on the court. However, what I am saying is keep in mind that Anthony won't be around MSG when you are at the peak of your career so don't allow his behavior to influence you. Just look at the other guys Anthony has mentored.
First it was JR Smith who was originally his side kick in Denver who learned under Anthony that he can do whatever he wants no matter how crazy or disruptive as long as he scores every once in awhile.
Then there was Iman Shumpert who had a great deal of potential but was more concerned with pleasing Anthony instead of his coaches and working on his craft. He should be a much better shooter and ball handler at this point of his career and I firmly believe that he isn't because he acquiesced those skills to Anthony and Smith. His mentors and big brother.
Lastly there is Tim Hardaway Jr. who looked like he was really going to be something special but once he got under Anthony's wing his game suffered and now all three of those guys are on other teams.
Kris, Anthony is not and should not be your mentor. Keep him at arms length, do not allow him in your inner circle or influence you with his bull shit.
Look to Phil Jackson, contact Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley to have bonds with respected big men of old. Hell even talk to Clyde Frazier and soak up his wisdom. But whatever you decide to do stay away from Anthony. You don't need to absorb any of his entitled acting, poor leadership skills having tom foolery.
