I loved that he sucked up his ego and finished as he did in shape as a role player for POrtland his last two years. It was a very mature thing to do and he earned a lot of respect for it. This in contrast to his bloated/entitled last season as a knick.

While the highest honor in the land gives him a jacket and a plaque of enshrinement but by an arbitrary standard he does not qualify for his jersey to be retired in MSG as it currently stands on my opinion . In the age were statues are being constructed as we fawn over our idols its at an owners discretion to set the standards for such honors. Knicks are stingy with the honor only awarding Ewing and Dick Mcguire who each had over a decade as a knick and defined success without a ring with their name on it.

Knicks have had many HOF talents pass thru and Melo's 7 years was a nice run for sure. The lack of success as a franchise with is not his to blame for. He did his job and performed admirably. A few not so great moments but that does not define his knack career. I looked over Denver's list and they historically did not have the run we had in 1970-73 so they have their own criteria. By that Melo should get his jersey retired there. Asking out as he did might keep him off their rafters? Thats their issue, not a Knick issue. I do hope he gets his there. I do hope knicks don't lower the standard for a jersey honor.
IF they do, then Allan Houstan goes before him then Melo with the likes of Carl Braun and Richie Guerin who lit up the place in thier eras.

Again, well deserved enshrinement!

*Nalodian side note: Once in a while Bill Bradley HOF enshrinement is misunderstood. In college he was a three time all-american (in an era where freshman did not play varsity), 1965 player of the year, a final four. He was an olympian gold metal winner, did win a chip in eurolegue with Olylpia Milano while studying at Oxford! Two time champ with knicks. Only Manu Ginobli and Dollar Bill can claim that trifecta! While he only made one NBA allstar game, we are reminded its the "Basketball HOF", not just the NBA HOF.
Jalen Brunson as HS champ, Mr Illinois player of the year, two time NCAA champ, NCAA national player of the year, and now two time All NBA has him in the potential HOF discussion in my opinion. He either needs a few more post season honors at his current level or perhaps an NBA chip to complete his growing resume. Adding a playoff MVP should seal it? I hate he missed out on being on Team USA in France. Jalen checks a lot of boxes as a Knick fan. A stature and presence we have not seen in decades.

blkexec wrote:

Philc1 wrote:He couldn’t win here because we were forced to construct an ok at best roster around him in 2011-2012.

If the Knicks had actually tanked 9 years earlier in 2003 when he, LeBron and Bosh all came out in the draft instead of winning 37 meaningless games everything would’ve been different. We would have had LeBron or Melo in the draft and then we could have built around them properly

Leon wasn’t in charge then. So the end result would’ve been the same.

Now if melo played under Leon then we would’ve had more success.

But a championship will erase any management errors or roster mistakes this organization has made during my lifetime.

Your right Isiah woulda traded a 21 year old Melo for Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford.