National Basketball Association

Report: 'Melo says he's cut Denver ties

Published Mar. 15, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Knicks star Carmelo Anthony said Tuesday he does not believe his former team, the Denver Nuggets, is rooting for him to succeed in the Big Apple.

"I really think they kind of don't want me to have success in New York, the way I look at it,'' Anthony said at the morning shootaround ahead Tuesday night's rematch with the Pacers.

"I try not to think about that. [I played] in Denver seven-and-a-half years. For me to move on was a hard thing to do. This is a business, and I've cut my ties there. ''

Anthony said he still roots for his former team, which has won eight of 10 games since trading him to the Knicks last month.

The four-time All-Star is averaging 25 points on 20 shots per game since joining the Knicks, though the team is just 6-5 in that period after Sunday's 106-93 loss to the Pacers at Madison Square Garden.

Anthony said Tuesday he is making a conscious effort to get his teammates more involved in the offense in an effort to shake his reputation as primarily a scorer.

"For me, personally, it's a matter of trying to make other guys better,'' Anthony said. "If that's me taking 10 less shots and giving it to them guys and sharing it with them and making them feel comfortable, I don't have a problem with that. That's something I've been thinking about the last couple of days.''

In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, Nuggets coach George Karl said he did not like the way the team was playing prior to the trade, pointing to lax defense and an offense focused too much on isolation plays for Anthony.

"Do you like watching that kind of basketball? I don't either," Karl told the magazine.

But Anthony disputed that characterization, saying he has never preferred to be a player that takes all the shots at the expense of his teammates.

"Throughout the game, if I'm shooting a couple of times in a row and guys start standing still and just watching, it's something we don't like, something I dealt with over the past couple of years.''