SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Carmelo Anthony said he was "caught off guard" by Phil Jackson's critical comments about him and that the Knicks don't need the "negativity" right now.
Anthony said he hasn't spoken to the Knicks president since he said that Anthony holds the ball too long on offense. Anthony said he doesn't understand why Jackson made those remarks.
"At the end of the day, we're playing good basketball," Anthony said before the Knicks' shootaround Friday. "That's the only thing that really matters at this point. Any negativity that's coming toward me or towards the team I don't think we need it at this point, especially when we're trying to make a run. We're on a five-game road trip, but we have an opportunity to do something special here."
Jackson made the comments to CBS Sports Network in an interview that aired Tuesday after he was asked how Anthony was doing in the triangle offense. Later that night, Anthony scored 35 points to lead the Knicks over the Heat. He also hit two game-winning shots over a four-game span during a stretch when the Knicks went 9-3.
Anthony didn't want to speak about it after the Knicks' loss to Cleveland Wednesday because he said he hadn't seen the full quote.
"I was caught off guard, not really knowing what was going on," Anthony said.
Then Anthony read it and posted items on Twitter and Instagram. One was a quote that ended with "let it GO." The other was a picture of his idol Muhammad Ali with arrows in his body and holding one that was slung by toward his face.
"I'm a big quote guy," Anthony said. "I have a million quotes in my phone. Sometimes they just pop up at the right time."
Asked if he feels someone slung arrows at him, Anthony said it's something he's come to embrace from being in New York. But he didn't expect it to come from someone within his team.
"It's not something I expect," Anthony said. "I didn't talk to him so I don't know where he was coming from with those comments. If he wants to talk about it, cool. If he don't, cool. In my eyes, it's over with."
Anthony said he won't seek out Jackson, who is expected to meet the Knicks in Los Angeles, where they are scheduled to practice Saturday and play the Lakers on Sunday.
"My conversations with management is limited at this point," Anthony said. "I've decided to focus on what I can focus on and let them focus on what they can focus on."
Jackson, who signed Anthony to a five-year, $124 million contract three years ago that included a no-trade clause, told CBS Sports Network that Anthony has "a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop."
Anthony said Jackson has never spoken to him about holding the ball too long.
"I just feel if it was something that he wanted to address or had a stance on something, the door is always been open both ways," Anthony said. "He's always sent me a text or talked to me. If it was any type of problem or anything going on I always welcome his conversation with open arms and I've sat there and would listen.
"If it was something good we had to talk about, we talked about it. If it was something he felt we could do better, I could do better, we talked about that. It's always been good conversations when we talked. I don't really know what's going."
It's possible Jackson could address the comments with Anthony in Los Angeles, but the Knicks star said his only concern is the team.
"My focus is us and what we're doing," Anthony said. "I feel we're at a point as a team we're making strides, we're playing good basketball. I just don't know what was behind the comments or where the comments came from.
"I just want to continue what we're doing, playing ball. I feel like we're playing some good basketball now. To have a temporary black cloud over our heads after I don't know when the comments was made or when or the gist of the conversation, I just know something was said."
