Carmelo Anthony has entered that portion of his year, which comes immediately after his season ends, when he attempts to completely separate himself from the game of basketball. He watches hardly any playoff games. He clears his mind by relaxing with family, taking trips and working out, and he moves far away from what just occurred so that he can think rationally, not emotionally, whenever he shifts his focus back to his profession.

“That's how I keep my edge,” Anthony told The Vertical in a telephone interview.

View photos Carmelo Anthony has played five-plus seasons with the Knicks. (AP Photo) More

Only two years from being an unrestricted free agent for the first time, Anthony once again enters an offseason filled with considerable uncertainty. USA Basketball will be going after its third straight gold medal in Brazil, and Anthony hasn’t decided if he wants to put his body through that grind as he runs out of prime NBA years. The New York Knicks are in the process of selecting a coach for next season, and so far, his input hasn’t been sought. And though Anthony yearns to stay and win in New York, the direction of a rebuilding franchise – despite the no-trade clause he possesses – has led to speculation that he might be in a different uniform next season.

“I try not to listen to it. It's easy to kind of put a brick wall up,” Anthony told The Vertical. “I'm not worried about that. But what I would like to see happen, is we get a competing attitude. I think everybody deserves that from their organization. Everybody needs to figure out a way, how we're going to compete at a high level, day in and day out. Not just sometimes – and not just being OK with being mediocre."

The Knicks have a promising young prospect in Kristaps Porzingis and made a 15-game improvement from the previous season. But the progress is somewhat jaded because the Knicks were still five games worse than the team Anthony chose to re-sign with for five years and $124 million in 2014. Anthony has had four different coaches, but only one playoff series win after more than five years in New York. He would like to leave behind a legacy of winning with the franchise sooner rather than later, especially because he’s turning 32 in a few weeks.

Jackson is currently looking to find his next coach. Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt recently spoke with the Knicks, but many expect Kurt Rambis to simply have the interim tag removed, given his past with Jackson and affinity for the triangle offense. Anthony said he hasn't spoken with Jackson since his exit interview two weeks ago but would like to assist in the decision-making process. And if Rambis – who went 9-19 after replacing Derek Fisher – winds up being the coach next season?

"It's kind of hard to talk about that, because there is nothing imminent with that situation. It's a process that I think should be taken, and taken seriously," Anthony said. "I would want to be involved. I hope I'm involved. Just to have my opinion heard. But I've already laid out how I feel and put everything out there on the table. Now, it's just on them."

From the time he decided he wanted to leave the Denver Nuggets, Anthony has wanted New York. He wanted the Broadway stage, wanted the unrelenting pressure and has remained committed to the organization through its many incarnations, upswings and failings. With the Knicks' future – and his role in it – hazy, Anthony dropped hints near the end of last season that he might eventually have to consider moving on. But while the team's timeline for becoming a contender is perhaps longer than Anthony can wait, retiring a Knick remains his primary objective.

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