Carmelo Anthony talks about his former agent Leon Rose taking over as the Knicks President: "What we're seeing now is those seeds that were planted four, five, probably six years ago"

The New York Knicks are enjoying their best season in over a decade. They won 50 games for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they had 54 wins. On Thursday night, the Knicks advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the second straight season. This marks the first time that this has happened since 2012 and 2013.

Many credit Jalen Brunson 's rise to superstardom as the main reason for the Knicks' resurgence. Others say it's head coach Tom Thibodeau who has instilled a winning culture in the organization. But while both answers are correct, not many recognize that the current Knicks team wouldn't be what it is right now if not for team president Leon Rose, who has quietly done a masterful job of assembling the team.

According to former NYK star Carmelo Anthony , what we're seeing right now from the Knicks isn't a surprise because it is just the culmination of a plan that Rose plotted many years ago.

"I knew the plan," claimed Melo on the Point Forward podcast . "When I say I knew the plan, I saw the plan drawn out because Leon was my agent. "

Melo says the Knicks now are the product of Leon's plan

Before he assumed the front office spot in New York, Rose was one of the NBA's top player agents. Most prominently, he became LeBron James' agent in 2005 after the Young King left Aaron Goodwin. Aside from LeBron, Rose also represented many other stars around the league, including Melo.

When Rose was named as Knicks President in March 2020, Anthony was still playing in the NBA. At that time, Melo was in Portland while Leon - the new Knicks President, was still his agent during a transition period. It was at this time that they had conversations about the future of the Knicks.

"So now I'm like really just 'Are you ready for this?' Now here's the plan. Listen, I'm on a five-year plan, boom, boom, boom. I gotta clean out the debt first in order for us to make some money. Once I knew he was on that page, I see what's going on and what we're seeing now is those seeds that was planted four, five probably six years ago. Because as an agent, that's the pinnacle, to run an organization," added Melo.

Leon Rose has quietly built a winner in New York

When Rose arrived in New York, his first order of business was bringing in a head coach who could create a culture around the team. So he brought in Tom Thibodeau. And then, perhaps in one of the most brilliant front-office decisions in recent history, he signed Jalen Brunson, traded for Josh Hart, and bagged Donte DiVincenzo in a series of moves that reunited the three Villanova teammates. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Knicks finished the 2023-24 regular season as the No.2 seed in the East. Despite facing perhaps the toughest first-round opponent in the Philadelphia 76ers, the Knicks thrived behind the three former college teammates, with Brunson putting up big numbers and Hart and DiVincenzo making one big play after another. In Game 6, the trio was at work again as the Knicks eliminated the Sixers and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

It's unclear how far the Knicks can go in the current postseason. That's because they are without the injured Julius Randle. But no matter what happens from here on, there's no doubt that Leon Rose has established a balance of present and future that has set up the Knicks for long-term success. And as Melo says, it's not by accident.

Related: Carmelo Anthony explains the meteoritic rise of Jalen Brunson in NY: "This is Broadway, I gotta perform every single night"