STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Carmelo Anthony believes the New York Knicks made the right decision in halting contract negotiations with some of their players to focus solely on basketball.
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart eligible for extensions but talks going nowhere, the Knicks said last week they were pausing discussions until later in the season and would devote their attention entirely to defending their NBA championship.
Anthony, an All-Star for the Knicks during his Hall of Fame career, said Monday he wasn't alarmed by what he was hearing from a team that should be enjoying happy times.
“I think it’s happier times, I just think things just move so fast now that you get a chance to celebrate the championship, then it's business as usual, right? Business has got to go on,” Anthony said.
“I think it was big for them to stop the conversations, and just, we’ll get to that. We’ll get to that at the end of the season.”
Anthony spoke at NBC Sports studios, where he is preparing for his second season as an analyst for the network's “NBA Showtime” studio show. He will be at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20 to watch the Knicks raise their championship banner when NBC televises their season opener against LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Anthony and the rest of the team of Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and host Maria Taylor will begin the day at Rockefeller Center, where the studio show will set up on the “Today Show” plaza for the 3 p.m. EDT tipoff of Boston at Detroit.
Towns is eligible for a four-year, $276 million deal. He is due to make $57 million this season and has a $61.1 million player option for 2027-28.
He has been disappointed in the progress of talks after being an All-Star in both seasons since coming to New York and told reporters that the Knicks' statement Friday that they were cutting off negotiations “was news to me.”
Hart will make $21 million this season and the Knicks have an option for 2027-28 at $22.4 million. He said he wasn't frustrated but had previously noted what it could mean for players at the trade deadline in February if there hadn't been progress.
Anthony was represented by Leon Rose, who is now the Knicks president, when he was traded to New York in 2011. A frequent spectator during the team's title run, he believes the players and management will be able to work things out respectfully.
“But whatever’s going to happen is going to happen,” Anthony said. “But right now, let the be all be the be all, which is basketball. Let’s go defend this championship. And I think both parties understand.”
See AP’s full NBA coverage here
FILE - Carmelo Anthony attends a basketball game between Mist BC and Breeze, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart, front right, grabs a rebound in front of Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George, second from left, during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) passes the ball in front of Washington Wizards center Deandre Ayton (8) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s opposition parties marched to the Supreme Court on Monday to protest a purge of voter lists they say favors Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, after police detained thousands of activists over the weekend in a sweeping crackdown in New Delhi.
Several opposition lawmakers and thousands of supporters marched through the capital and submitted a petition to the chief justice alleging irregularities in the nationwide revision of voter lists.
Protests led by the “Cockroach” youth movement have intensified since election authorities began the revision last year, removing more than 130 million voters from the lists. The protesters, including opposition parties, are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Critics say the process is politically motivated and risks disenfranchising eligible voters. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission deny allegations of manipulation, saying the move is needed to remove duplicate and ineligible names.
Ahead of the march, authorities closed six metro stations in the capital on Monday and warned of traffic disruptions.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party described the growing protests as a fight to defend the constitution.
“We will not back down,” he told reporters in New Delhi.
Gandhi, scion of India’s most influential political dynasty, is seeking to turn the protests into a broader challenge to Modi.
Gandhi briefly rode through the crowd in an open bus, waving a copy of India’s Constitution. Thousands of his party supporters, student activists and other protesters followed in tow. The turnout marked a sharp contrast with the weekend, when authorities briefly detained thousands, including leaders of the “Cockroach” movement and journalists, and effectively locked down much of the capital to prevent large-scale protests.
Modi has not publicly commented on the protests, but leaders of his party have dismissed them, with some calling the activists “anarchists.”
Meanwhile, New Delhi police announced Monday that Jantar Mantar, a longtime site of mass protests in the capital, would no longer be a designated venue for rallies. Police said three replacement sites had been chosen.
The “Cockroach” movement earlier this year staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar that lasted for weeks, forcing the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July.
Security personnel in riot gear arrive to escort workers of India's opposition Congress party as they gather for a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, center, and his sister, fellow lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, lead opposition party leaders and workers in a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Prabhat Mehrotra)
A protester shouts slogans as he climbs onto a police barricade during a march by opposition parties toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Activists and workers from various opposition parties carry a large replica of the Constitution of India during a protest march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.. (AP Photo/Prabhat Mehrotra)
A security personnel member arrives to escort workers of India's opposition Congress party as they gather for a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Security personnel watch as workers of India's opposition Congress party gather for a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A commuter watches as security personnel arrive to escort workers of India's opposition Congress party gathering for a march toward the Supreme Court to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Workers of India's opposition Congress party shout slogans atop a bus as they gather for a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Security personnel in riot gear arrive to escort workers of India's opposition Congress party as they gather for a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
