On Sunday, on a nationally televised stage no less, the New York Knicks were handed a miserable defeat by the Chicago Bulls. Chicago raced out to an early advantage, topping the Knicks by 25 points just two minutes into the second quarter, utilizing excellent execution, heady play, and incessant activity to easily down the Knicks despite (say it with me) playing without Derrick Rose and the traded Luol Deng. Bulls center Joakim Noah, who could have been a New York Knick had it not been for the 2005 Eddy Curry deal, dismantled the Knicks with his pinpoint passing, on his way to a triple double with 14 assists, 12 rebounds, and 13 points.

Chicago also limited Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony to a relatively pedestrian 21 points. It was the second straight downer of a game for Carmelo, who missed 19 of 26 shots in a loss on Friday against Golden State, following a good month and a half of MVP-level play in the face of his team’s woes. Because all the storylines were in place – the overachieving Bulls downing the glazed-over Knicks featuring a center and coach that could have been New York’s, taking on a player in Anthony that could leave money on the table to join a winner in Chicago this summer – the press was allowed to glom onto several chewy talking points.

Anthony, more than anyone, is used to this. This is why he called the loss “embarrassing” following the game, while continually (and genuinely) pointing out that he has absolutely no clue as to how his likely 2014 free agent turn will play out.

What he probably didn’t know, in the hours before the early game, was that his former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl had decided to go on record in Anthony’s hometown paper of record about how Carmelo doesn’t stack up to some of the NBA’s great all-time chest beaters. Karl, in talking with the New York Times’ Harvey Araton, dropped this about his former star:

“There’s no question that he wants to win and his I.Q. for the game is actually very good,” Karl said. “He always wants to think like a coach, but he always doesn’t want to sign the contract with the coach.”

Asked what he meant by that, Karl said: “I think Melo respected me and I think he respects Mike Woodson. But I don’t think Melo understands that coming to work with the best attitude every single day is a precious commodity when you’re the best player. That’s not the same thing as playing hard. That’s bringing the total package, 100 percent focused on all the little things. Those are rare breeds. Kevin Garnett. Michael Jordan. LeBron didn’t always have it, but he has it now.

“Melo doesn’t get an A in that department — maybe not much more than a B-minus. It is, in a sense, the A.A.U. mind-set: We worked hard yesterday, maybe we can take a day off today. That’s why he really needs that player — the point guard or someone who takes on that role — to be the bridge from the coach to him.”

It’s important to remember that Carmelo Anthony last played for George Karl some 37 months ago. There’s a very good possibility that Anthony loafed his way through Karl’s practices in Denver, a very anti-Jordan thing to do in a league that has been about 99 percent free of Jordan- types for the last six or so decades, but for the last two seasons Carmelo Anthony has absolutely brought it.

In many ways, the Anthony that forced his way to New York in 2011 was an overrated star, a guy who scored quite a bit and did little else, leading to consistent Player Efficiency Ratings in the “nice, but no LeBron” 20 or 21-range. That number has shot way up over the last two seasons, he carried the Knicks to 54 wins this season, and he’s done all he can this season for a Knicks roster and franchise that has failed him.

It’s not Anthony’s fault that Tyson Chandler doesn’t come close to resembling the 2011-12 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. It’s not his fault Amar’e Stoudemire can barely do anything but hit flat-footed jumpers, that Raymond Felton’s brain and gut are out of shape, and that ancient types like the waived Metta World Peace and the injured Kenyon Martin are just about done. It’s partially his fault that the Knicks dealt Denver a massive collection of assets and draft picks for his services in 2011, even knowing that they could sign him outright as a free agent the next offseason, but that’s on owner James Dolan.

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