All these years later, Knicks fans are still searching for anything as remarkable as the weeks that brought Linsanity.
It was — and remains — so special because was so brief, but with Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire alongside budding star Jeremy Lin, it never could have lasted, according to their former coach.
Former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni confirmed this week on a podcast with The Vertical that the two established stars — sidelined for much of the incredible stretch — resented Lin for the praise he received and were unwilling to adapt to his style, which propelled the Knicks to seven straight wins in February 2012.
“It was there, it’s real,” said D’Antoni, who was recently hired as the Rockets’ new head coach. “The problem that we had was that for Jeremy to be really good, which he was, he had to play a certain way. It was hard for him to adapt.
“Amar’e, Melo, whatever, kinda had their way they had to play a certain way to be really, really good. So there was that inherent conflict of: What’s better for the team? What isn’t? Can they co-exist? Can they not? And again, they could co-exist if Melo went to the 4, which he really didn’t want to, and if Amar’e came to the backup [center], like the Tyson [Chandler], which he didn’t want to.”
Lin and Anthony now have to share the same town, with Lin signing with the Nets, but not the same court.
According to D’Antoni, that Knicks team became split as well, as to which brand of basketball would work better.
“So it’s now, ‘What are we gonna do?’ and so, we see how to go and I didn’t know how to get there,” D’Antoni said. “With losing again and you try to prod them and ‘you gotta play harder’ and all the coaches-speak … and communications like deteriorated.
“And then you would see the faces of guys that went through Linsanity and they’re looking at you … they see what we can do, we’re not doing it, they get frustrated.”
This past season, Stoudemire accepted no responsibility for his role in the end of Linsanity, but alluded to Anthony having issues with the rising star at that time.
“If [Lin] stayed, it would’ve been cool,’’ Stoudemire said in February. “But everyone wasn’t a fan of him being a new star. So he didn’t stay long. Jeremy was a great, great guy, great with teammates, worked hard. He put the work in. We were proud of him having his moment. A lot of times you got to enjoy somebody else’s success. That wasn’t the case for us during that stretch. You got to enjoy that and let that player enjoy himself and cherish those moments. He was becoming a star and I didn’t think everyone was pleased with that.’’
Yet D’Antoni’s final comment about his Knicks tenure seemed directed at those “frustrated” role players “that went through Linsanity” — likely excluding Anthony and Stoudemire.
“There’s some guys in the league that I really want to respect me,” D’Antoni said on the podcast. “I respect the way they play, I respect the way they look at the game, and their respect is more important instead of having a job. [If] everybody else is killing me, I’d rather be killed and those guys respect me.
“Relationships deteriorated where I couldn’t get the most out of people. Take me away and they’ll up their game.”