NEW YORK — The deeper Syracuse goes in the NCAA Tournament, the more Carmelo Anthony cleans up.
Following the Knicks’ 108-89 win over the Boston Celtics Sunday night, Anthony told reporters that he’s making teammate Steve Novak, who played at Marquette, pay during the team’s flight to Miami for Tuesday’s game at the Heat.
“On the plane tomorrow, he gotta wear orange on the plane,” Anthony said. (He then posted this Instagram photo of an obviously displeaesd Novak in a Syracuse jacket.)
With Saturday’s win over Marquette in Washington, D.C, Syracuse is back in the Final Four for the first time since 2003, when Anthony led Jim Boeheim’s program to its only NCAA championship.
Anthony’s alma mater has already knocked out the schools of teammate Jason Kidd (Cal) and coach Mike Woodson (Indiana). Woodson was forced to carry around an orange during a shootaround last week to pay off his bet.
“I’m going down the line. I’m going down the line,” Anthony said.
“J.R. (Smith) is rooting for Louisville, he didn’t even go to school. So I mean, he might be next.”
Smith’s brother, Chris, played at Louisville, and appeared visibly shaken by Kevin Ware’s gruesome leg injury prior to the Knicks game.
Anthony also won a Super Bowl bet with teammate Tyson Chandler when the Ravens beat the 49ers, forcing Chandler to wear a Ravens hat during his post-game interview.
Now all Anthony needs is a teammate who attended Michigan to keep his roll going.
There aren’t any, so a Wall Street Journal beat writer who attended the school offered to bet Melo on the outcome of Saturday’s Final Four game in Atlanta.
“They’re playing very well right now, so we’ll see what happens,” Anthony said of Michigan. “We’re playing very well, too.”
Asked if Syracuse’s 2-3 zone could slow down Michigan sharpshooter Nik Stauskas, who went 6-for-6 from the arc en route to 22 points during the team’s 79-59 rout of Florida, Anthony said: “[The zone] has been good so far, we shall see. I’m going with Syracuse regardless.”
(The AP contributed reporting)
