Carmelo: 'When we win, it's us; when we lose, it's me'
A player signed to a $124-million contract and billed as the face of one of the most storied franchises in all of basketball is going to receive their fair share of criticism when the team isn't meeting expectations.
The New York Knicks are currently in the midst of a six-game losing streak, their most recent defeat coming at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night courtesy of a game-winning jumper from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Anthony has been through this song and dance before with past Knicks teams and isn't ready to sound the alarm just yet, though he expects the majority of blame to fall his way when the going gets tough - fairly or unfairly.
"We're not going to let anything seep into this locker room as far as negativity," Anthony said after the heartbreaking 105-104 defeat, according to NorthJersey.com's Steve Popper. "I don't even want to think about last year or the year before, those situations. I know right now we're not going to allow ourselves to get down, especially with the guys on this team. We know how to react to situations like this. So it's just a matter of sometimes when things are not going your way they're not going your way. We've got to figure out a way to get out of that."
He added, "It is what it is. Regardless of what happens when we win, it's us. When we lose, it's me."
Anthony led New York in scoring with 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting in 36 minutes against the Bucks, flirting with a triple-double in the process by grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out seven assists. He's only converted 37.7 percent of his field-goal attempts over the last six outings, though, and has drawn his head coach's ire for his decision-making on offense.
Related - Watch: Hornacek fed up after Melo calls another iso
New York will have another shot at Milwaukee on Friday when the team visits the BMO Harris Bradley Center.