Sal knows that the retiring of Carmelo Anthony’s No. 7 is coming to Madison Square Garden in the near future, and when it does, he is done with his Knicks fandom.
“It’s not because I don’t like Carmelo Anthony. He seems like a great dude,” Sal said. “I’d want to hang out with Carmelo Anthony…and I have great respect for what he did with Syracuse and in the NBA as a scorer. However, he is not an all-time great Knicks. That’s just unacceptable. The idea that Carmelo could be celebrated as some great or legendary Knicks, he’s not. That is not my opinion. That is a fact. He’s not. He’s not an all-time great Knick.
“I know it’s coming…the talk of retiring Melo’s number. It’s gonna happen. Mark this down: the day Carmelo Anthony has his number raised to The Garden rafters is the day I retire as a Knicks fan. I am done with this organization if they hang up Carmelo’s No. 7.”
Sal credits Anthony for a fine career, but stresses that it’s not worth a jersey retirement ahead of other Knicks like Bernard King, John Starks, or even Charles Oakley. But he says Anthony certainly didn’t have the kind of career that warrants his jersey number being hung up alongside Patrick Ewing’s.
“It has nothing to do with Carmelo,” Sal said. “It has to do with the others who have been hung up there before him, specifically No. 33. There is no way - I watched them both - there is no way you can tell me that Carmelo Anthony deserves the same honor that Patrick Ewing does. There is no freaking way. Not even close.
“Carmelo is barely in the top 20 Knicks. You want to talk about numbers being retired? Come on now. And again, this isn’t anti-Melo. He’s a good dude, baller, did some good things with the Knicks.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)