National Basketball Association

Carmelo not sitting on Knicks bench for safety reasons

Published Apr. 2, 2015 11:06 a.m. ET

foxsports

By Steve DelVecchio

Carmelo Anthony has not been seen sitting on the New York Knicks bench since he underwent knee surgery six weeks ago. He recently began rehabbing with the team’s training staff and stretching with teammates before games, but there has been no sign of Carmelo at tip-off.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Anthony has not been sitting on the bench during games to avoid the possibility of a player crashing into his surgically-repaired knee. Knicks coach Derek Fisher would not confirm that.

“You can ask him that if you ever get a chance to talk to him or the medical staff,” Fisher said. “There’s been no discussion whether Carmelo would be sitting on the bench when he’s recovering from a major knee surgery.”

If the decision to not have Anthony sit on the bench was made by the team, you would think Fisher would know about it.

As Berman notes, Anthony typically leaves Madison Square Garden before games begin. Why he can’t sit in the owner’s box or something to watch games, we don’t know. But what we do know is that Kobe Bryant has suffered a number of severe injuries over the past few seasons, and he is almost always on the bench during Los Angeles Lakers games.

What are the odds of a player crashing into Carmelo and re-injuring his knee? We don’t know. The only thing we know is the Knicks stink, and Phil Jackson does not seem to be enjoying the criticism that is coming his way. Perhaps Anthony feels the same, which is why he has chosen to hide.

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