Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Carmelo Anthony wants coach who holds players 'accountable'

Carmelo Anthony shed some light on the characteristics he’s looking for in the next New York Knicks' next head coach.

"Being able to hold guys accountable, but also having a relationship with the player. Kind of seeing things from a players' perspective as well as a coach's perspective," Anthony said in an interview with Complex.com. "I think if you can build that camaraderie between a coach and a player, I think you're onto something."

Anthony last week said he hadn’t spoken to Jackson about the Knicks’ coaching search, which is in its third week.

He explained in the interview with Complex why it was important for him to be kept in the loop during the coaching search.

“You gotta think about it, this is gonna be a long-term journey of playing and you consider me being part of that plan then I would want to know what’s going on,” Anthony told the website.

It is unclear if Anthony and Jackson have talked since the interview, but it’s fair to wonder why the team president wouldn’t keep his star player abreast of developments in the coaching search.

Jackson thus far has talked to interim coach Kurt Rambis, ex-Cavaliers coach David Blatt and ex-Warriors assistant Luke Walton about the vacancy.

Anthony has said that he’d like Jackson to speak with multiple candidates and also strongly suggested that Tom Thibodeau would have accepted the Knicks job if it were offered to him. The Knicks did not reach out to Thibodeau before the ex-Bulls coach accepted a job as coach/president of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I just want to see the proper procedure gone through, the proper process,” Anthony said in his Complex.com interview. “We give everybody a shot to come in and say what they have to say and see if you like that person or not.”

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