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Mike D’Antoni told interim Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald in a meeting before Wednesday’s morning shootaround he didn’t feel he could “positively affect the team’’ anymore.
More to the point, D’Antoni no longer felt he could “positively affect’’ Carmelo Anthony to buy into his speedball system and being a team player, according to sources.
On the day The Post reported Anthony wanted to be traded by Thursday’s NBA deadline unless he had assurances D’Antoni would not be around next season, the Knicks coach made it easy for Anthony.
D’Antoni quit, but only after asking owner James Dolan if the team would consider trading Anthony. The answer was no.
A month after Jeremy Lin became a global phenomenon under D’Antoni’s watch, the Knicks went from Linsanity to insanity, as D’Antoni resigned because of his conflict with Anthony, whose return from injury sent the Knicks into a 2-8 spiral and 18-24 record.
— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post
