How Phil Jackson’s Entrance Affects Carmelo Anthony

Podcast: Armen Williams Analyzes 'Melo's Future With Phil

When asked about Carmelo Anthony during his welcoming press conference on Tuesday morning, Phil Jackson said that he welcomed 'Melo as a part of the future.

Of course he does, he was told before he signed that the team was going to aggressively pursue their franchise player and Phil most likely was forced to buy into it before signing any papers.

But, notice the words that Coach Jackson sprinkled in throughout the nearly one hour presser - stuff like, "team players", "role players", etc. At one point, the 13x NBA Champion even referenced how Anthony can "still be better".

Not a chance the indirect comments rubbed 'Melo in a positive light. Stephen A. Smith says that those in Anthony's inner-circle all believe that he's going to bounce after this year.

After all, do we really believe he's going to stay in order to be a "role player"?

Yeah, right.