Was Carmelo Anthony’s comment not worded properly, or, did he mean to throw shade at Jeremy Lin?

People are all in a tizzy over the following comment that New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony recently made regarding his former teammate, Jeremy Lin, who is now the starting guard for the Brooklyn Nets.

“He is the face of that franchise — believe it or not.

He came up, they paid him and now the ball is in his hands.

So now he’s one of the franchise players over there.

What do you want me to say about that?

I’m happy for him, excited for him to see how it’s going to work out, turn out over there.”

Are people reading too much into this story to generate a Knicks-Nets rivalry? Also, I know it’s preseason, and it is a very small sample size, but how do the Brooklyn Nets look?

VIDEO: Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez gives the media his takeaways from the Nets preseason 100-97 loss against the Celtics

Brook Lopez on tonight’s game:

“It was tough. Like you said I thought we came out with great defensive presence and energy, and we sustained it for the most part. The third quarter has been key for us the past couple of games and I thought while the Celtics made their run we responded, which is something that hasn’t happened in the past two games.”

Brook Lopez On exploring the offense:

“Yeah, no question. I think the process will definitely continue over the regular season as well. You know we have so many new guys, new faces that we are getting to know each other and know the system. We are learning on the fly, but we have lots of intelligent, smart and selfless guys here, so we are picking it up quick and we’re enjoying playing with each other.”

Brook Lopez on playing with Jeremy Lin so far:

“ It’s been great. You know, he makes everyone on the floor better, he makes me a better player no question. He’s just such a great influential presence out on the floor for us.”

Brook Lopez on team coming together on defense:

“Absolutely, we made a point that on the road we need to come out with energy, but we need to do the same at home, you know, we need to come out and be the aggressor. That’s where we’re going to be an advantageous position, that’s where we are going to find out solidarity within each other, playing with energy, playing together.

And, there is more in the video.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson gives his assessment about the Brooklyn Nets preseason game against the Boston Celtics held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn

Kenny Atkinson on the last few possessions of the game:

“Yeah, we could have managed it a little better – I think communication and getting on the same page on what we’re gonna do. It’s going to be a great thing for us to look at film and what we’re gonna do in certain situations. So, you know, getting on the same page, coaches and players. We obviously could have gotten better shots at the end of the game, and then we lapsed in defensive transition, I thought, once or twice at there at the end too, which I thought was a little disappointing.”

Kenny Atkinson on his takeaway from the game:

“First of all, defensively, I was really happy. Just our energy, our activity and just the way the guys competed. It’s just a big improvement, and that’s what we’re looking for now is improvement from the last, especially the last two games. But I will bring up, I don’t know, that third quarter I think they got us again. So I think we have to figure out that third quarter. Coming out I think they had 30 points or something in the third quarter. So again, stringing those defensive possessions for 48 minutes, it’s a good challenge for us.”

Kenny Atkinson on if his player rotation in this game is reflective of what can be expected in the regular season:

“Yeah; well, I’m not sure. But we definitely did want to see our guys together for longer periods of time obviously. And then I’m glad we did it. And next game, you might see something different. But we thought tonight, especially after our couple of performances that were a little subpar, I think we all felt that, you know, let’s see our group together. And it could be somebody else in that group too, we’re still evaluating, but it was good. We did it make it a little bit of a push there seeing our guy – the kind of guys we’re thinking about getting regular season minutes – in there together.”

Kenny Atkinson on Not Playing Isaiah Whitehead

"We kinda had it planned out; it was like a plan. He’ll get his shot again and other guys will rest. Just part of the plan; wasn’t any reaction to having a so-so game, that’s not how we are. We got a plan in place and we’re sticking to it."

Kenny Atkinson on Brook Lopez Getting More Minutes; Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin Pick-and-Rolls

"I really want to establish our motion offense, to come down and run a pick-and-roll every time…obviously, we’re going to need that, we’ll need it in important times. I think right now we’re trying to get the ball moving, trying to get the ball side-to-side, getting everybody with touches. Brook and Jeremy, they’re both going to have to learn how to work within that dynamic; when it’s crunch time, we can think about drawing up special plays for them and getting into a pick and roll with those two, but we still have to progress with our offense, so that’s where we are, so we’re not going to rely on that…”

Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin responds to reporters' question about Donald Trump's "locker room talk"

After the Brooklyn Nets' 100-97 preseason loss to the Boston Celtics, Jeremy Lin and other Brooklyn Nets players spoke with the media.

A reporter from an Asian media outlet asked Lin about Donald Trump's locker room talk.

VIDEO: Jeremy Lin gives his reflections on losing 100-97 to Boston Celtics

After the Brooklyn Nets preseason game against the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin spoke with the media.

The Boston Celtics won 100-97

On Brooklyn Nets Media Day, Anthony Bennett shared his outlook for the season

At Brooklyn Nets Media Day today, Brooklyn Nets forward Anthony Bennett says he is "in a good vibe all around."

Bennett says everyone gets along very well, as he talked about Brooklyn Nets team culture and winning expectations.

Last week, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks and head coach Kenny Atkinson met with the media and stated that they were not going to judge this season on wins and losses.

Upon hearing Marks’ and Atkinson’s public position about the Nets’ upcoming season, Bennett responded, "obviously as a player, I want to win, not trying to have a losing record, just take it day by day."

Nets struggled in the first half, tightened up in second half holding the Pistons to 35 points

It’s NBA preseason and the Brooklyn Nets came out the gate with a win, beating the Detroit Pistons 101-94 at the Barclays Center.

A symbolic victory, but no time to gloat because preseason only counts in that it is a tune-up for the regular season. It’s a time to take stock of where the seepage is located, measure the size of the hole, and determine how to fill it. As a player, it is also the time to give it your best shot in an attempt to make the final roster.

The Pistons had 24 turnovers, which helped the Nets shoot 69 percent in the first quarter.

As a team, the Nets hit 35-of-78 (.449) from the field and 14-of-34 from deep. Defensively, the Nets got out to a rough start, allowing the Pistons to shoot 58% (25-of-43) from the field in the first half, falling behind 59-57 at the break. But in the second half, the Nets tightened up, holding the Pistons to 35 points.

“We struggled in the first half against a good team, a good offensive team, but on the positive side, they only scored 35 points in the second half,” Coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We picked up our activity. I think we were just more active. We got in passing lanes, we caused a lot of havoc out there and that was a real positive defensively.”

Jeremy Lin led the team with 21 points, shooting 7-of-11 including 5-of-8 from deep in just over 17 minutes.

Lin said after Thursday’s game that he knows he won’t be getting eight open 3s every night,

Other Nets players with points in double digits were Joe Harris with 12 points and Luis Scola scored 10. Justin Hamilton and Trevor Booker led the team in rebounding, grabbing five each.

For the Pistons, Andre Drummond and Marcus Morris led their team in scoring, cashing in on 17 points each.

Muhammad Ali may have lost his battle with Parkinson's disease, but in death, he is still the people's champ

In this episode of What's The 411Sports, the panel of Keisha Wilson, Mike McDonald, and guest panelist, New York Amsterdam reporter, Vincent Davis are talking about:

Heavyweight champion boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali's legacy
The latest debacle facing the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and even though Hope Solo doesn't want to participate and cyclist Tejay Van Garderen doesn't want to participate because his wife is pregnant, it's not the Zika Virus
The New York Knicks hires Jeff Hornacek to be its new head coach
Canadian professional basketball player and 2013 NBA No.1 overall draftee, Anthony Bennett, worked out with the Brooklyn Nets at mini-camp and reports say he looks good
New York Mets third baseman David Wright on the Disabled List
New York Yankees' first baseman Mark Teixeira hit with injury bug, torn cartilage in right knee

Keisha Wilson puts former NY Giants Lawrence Taylor's wife, Lynette Taylor on the bench, and Judge Aaron Persky goes in the dog house for only giving Brock Turner, aka the Stanford Rapist, six months in jail for his rape conviction.

In final game of the season, Nets general manager gives strong signal that Tony Brown won’t be back

Today was the last game of the season for the Brooklyn Nets. They hosted the Toronto Raptors at the Barclays Center, a team the Nets bounced out of the playoffs in the first round in 2014.

I thought there was an outside chance that the Nets could close out the season with a win, particularly since Toronto head coach Dwane Casey told the media in a pregame press conference that the Raptors would be without DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Luis Scola and Jonas Valanciunas. And, adding to the missing key Toronto players, the Nets started the game with a 21-4 run, which made me hopeful.

However, the 17-point lead seemed to vanish in an instant. By the end of the half, Toronto led Brooklyn 49-47; at the end of the third stanza, Toronto had a 12-point lead 78-66. When the music stopped, the Nets had lost to the Raptors 103-96, and in so doing, finished the season with a 21-61 record, the 3rd-worst in the league.

In the loss, Bojan Bogdanovic came up big for the Nets, scoring 29 points on seven 3-pointers. Sean Kilpatrick, a fan favorite, as they are still calling his name when he steps on the hardwood, added 12 points and tied his three career assist record. Donald Sloan scored 11 points, and Henry Sims chipped in 10 points and tied his career-high three blocked shots.

Like the Nets, the Raptors also only had four players in double digits; but they scored more points. Norman Powell led all scorers with 30 points and nine rebounds; Terrence Ross scored 24 points and 10 boards off the bench; Delon Wright added 18 points and seven assists; and Jason Thompson chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.

Anyone following the Nets this season knows that this season is the team’s worst season in Brooklyn. The downward spiral caused the reassignment of general manager Billy King and the firing of head coach Lionel Hollins on January 10, 2016. Anthony (Tony) Brown, an assistant coach under Hollins was named interim head coach and played caretaker to a team that seemed to be in disarray. As one who followed the team, I don’t think the 21-61 record really reflects the potential of the Brooklyn Nets’ team as it is presently constituted. The team needs a stronger point guard, a defender around the rim, and a coach that has experience developing young players, and particularly millennials. The salary cap is expected to go up to approximately $89 million and with Nets current salary obligations it could have between $42.1 and $48.2 million for free agents. Attracting good free agents to the Nets will depend in part on who becomes the next head coach.

Sean Marks, the Nets new general manager has been in evaluation mode of both players and interim coach Tony Brown. There is no doubt some of the players will not be back next season and certainly Tony Brown won’t be back.

Brown told the media that the Nets’ young players are still being evaluated and was asked if he still believed he was being evaluated by Marks.

“I can’t answer that. I really can’t,” Brown said before Monday’s game against the Wizards. “We’ve got two games left. I feel like the situation has been tough from the beginning, I’ve tried to make the best of it and I’m going to continue to do that the last two games and whatever happens, happens. I’m not worried about my fate with this organization.”

As I watched Brown hustle out the door after the Nets final game against Toronto and there were no final remarks by Nets General Manager Marks, I guess we all have our answer soon enough.

In the loss Nets’ backup guard Sean Kilpatrick led Nets players with 15 points

Today, the brunch-time crowd came into the Barclays Center to see the Brooklyn Nets take on the New Orleans Pelicans at 1:00 p.m. Since the Pelicans were without star forward Anthony Davis, it seemed like this would be a game that the Nets could add in the win column. Unfortunately, the Nets lost to the Pelicans 106-87.

Now, hold on Sparky, before you start yelling and screaming, the Nets were without Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, Nets head coach Tony Brown in his pre-game press conference told the assembled media that he was going to sit Lopez and Young for the rest of the season. The stated reason for pulling these players was to give them rest for next season and to prevent unnecessary injuries. Now, the conspiracy theorist in me says that yeah, I get your point, but rumors of trading Young before the February 2016 trade deadline makes me just a little skeptical. Now, the rational side says these are good players to build around and with a good head coach and the already A-Team general manager in Sean Marks, the Nets should be making some noise next season. So why take the risk, if you don’t have to do it? However, stranger things have happened, so I am in wait and see mode until the next season starts.  

As for the actual game against the Pelicans, Nets reserve guard Sean Kilpatrick, continues to wow the crowd. When his named was announced to substitute for Wayne Ellington with 4:36 left in the first quarter, the crowd at the BC applauded and chanted his name wildly. I think I was sitting next to Kilpatrick’s No.1 fans. Kilpatrick didn’t disappoint. Off the bench, Kilpatrick led all Nets scorers with 15 points; his off-the-bench teammate, Markel Brown added 12 points, as did starting center Henry Sims, a pickup from the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League on March 17. Sims whose last NBA team was the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2014-15 NBA season also had seven boards. Other Nets starters in double digits were Thomas Robinson with 11 points and 15 rebounds, and Ellington chipped in 10 points.

As for the Pelicans starting squad, Luke Babbitt led all scorers with 21 points; Dante Cunningham had 14 points, and Jordan Hamilton came up with a double-double, 13 points, and 11 rebounds. Pelicans’ reserves weren’t slouches. Tim Frazier came off the bench and added a stellar double-double performance of his own, 19 points and 13 assists. Alexis Ajinca put up 16 points and six rebounds, and James Ennis chipped in 14 points.

Without Lopez and Young, I don’t expect any wins for the Brooklyn Nets for the rest of the season. Next up on the docket for the Nets are:

4/6: DC Wizards in Washington, DC
4/8: Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte
4/10: Indiana Pacers in Indiana
4/11: DC Wizards at home in Brooklyn
4/13: Toronto Raptors at home in Brooklyn

Photo: Nets guard Sean Kilpatrick puts up a valiant effort in attempting to pass the ball past New Orleans Pelicans center Kendrick Perkins (5), but to no avail. Nets lose to Pelicans 106-87