Shortly after the New York Knicks issued an apology on his behalf for comments made to a fan, Carmelo Anthony said the idea to apologize was not his. The All-Star forward also downplayed what he was "apologizing" for.
After the Knicks' 104-85 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night, Anthony responded to a heckling fan by pointing toward Madison Square Garden Executive Chairman James Dolan and saying, "ask for your money back." The Knicks issued a statement apologizing on Anthony's behalf on Thursday.
Later in the day, Anthony said Dolan came up with the idea to issue an apology after the two discussed the matter in a non-formal manner.
"Nah, it's not that serious," Anthony said. "It's really not that serious to me. It was just one of those moments you're getting booed, the team is getting booed, you're not playing well. The fan is sitting there right behind the bench and you catch what he said. He's trying to get your attention. And I said what I said. I don't think I said anything wrong."
He did indicate that his comment toward the fan was the result of losing by a large margin at home in the midst of a disappointing season.
"All I did was I pointed to (James) Dolan, and told him, 'Look, the owner's right there. Ask for your money back," Anthony said after the game. "At that point, he's calling me to tell me that he's never coming to another game and we suck, you just don't want to hear that."
"It definitely was frustration. Losing builds up. You don't want to hear that from a fan," he added.
Anthony played 34 minutes against the Trail Blazers, registering 23 points, four assists and 10 rebounds for the game. Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard led all players with 30 points and six assists.
The Knicks are 25-37 with just the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers below them in the Eastern Conference standings. They are 6.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons for eighth place and appear on track to miss the playoffs.
