Carmelo Anthony denies influencing Chris Paul for a New York Knicks move – NBA Update
With the free agency just around the corner, the rumour mill is running full circle with regards to Chris Paul and a possible switch to the New York Knicks.
The New Orleans Hornets super star is close friends with Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, and it has been suggested that Anthony’s presence in New York could push Paul towards the Big Apple.
It has even been reported that Anthony could have actively tried to recruit Paul on behalf of the Knicks during the summer. The two hung out together quite often during the lockout and Paul did not shy away from making public appearances
in New York, add more fuel to the fire for newspaper speculation.
Anthony though has emphatically denied that he tried to influence Paul in anyway.
The Knicks forward said he is friends with Paul, who visited New York often due to lockout negotiations or other issues and that was that.
"I'm not involved in that process. No way," Anthony said as reported by ESPN. “That's a subject, a topic that I don't want to touch. I don't want to deal with that."
"We're very close friends. I'm pretty sure you guys saw him out here in New York, a lot," Anthony said. "Due to the players meeting and stuff like that, we hung out. But we never had any conversations about him coming to New York.
That's something that I would leave up to him and him and his family and I'm staying away from that. "
Anthony came to New York just last season after a transfer saga that ran for months. The star forward wanted to make the move to the Knicks and forced his way through despite opposition from former side Denver Nuggets to clinch
the transfer in mid-season.
He said his motivation was to give himself a better chance of winning. With regards to Paul, Anthony said he has only told him to take care of his own interests and that of his family.
"One thing I did tell him was, 'Just make the best decision for you and your family.'”
In joining New York, Anthony linked up with All-Star power forward Amar’e Stoudemire and the two combined to take the Knicks into post season after a very long hiatus by their standards. Now it is believed that Carmelo wants Paul
to join him in the city as well so they can form a power trio comparable to the one in Miami, where the Miami Heat have enlisted the likes of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
If the move were to happen, it would certainly shift the balance of power to the Eastern Conference with 4 NBA Championship worthy sides in the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics.
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