Carmelo Anthony To Replace Injured Kevin Love For NBA All-Star Game

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony will replace injured Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, the league announced Wednesday.

Carmelo Anthony to Take Kevin Love’s All-Star Game Spot

According to ESPN, Anthony accepted the invite from commissioner Adam Silver earlier in the day, after Silver offered him a place on the Eastern Conference roster.

This marks Anthony’s 10th All-Star selection. The 13-year veteran had planned a vacation with his family before he was contacted by Silver.

“It means a lot,” Anthony said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an honor to be named to the All-Star team, to go out there and represent despite everything that’s been going on, that’s surrounding us, that’s surrounding me, that’s surrounding our organization. To still go out there and represent not just the organization but New York City as a whole, it’s still an honor to do that.”

Love, meanwhile, hard arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Anthony and Love were recently tied to rumors of a trade between the Knicks and Cavaliers, although LeBron James quickly shut down those rumors last week, condemning the New York Daily News reporter who claimed James had pushed for such an exchange.

The NBA trade deadline is on Feb. 23.

One NBA veteran who was not happy with the league’s decision to replace Love with Anthony was Jared Dudley, who signed a three-year deal with the Phoenix Suns in July. Dudley, who previously played for the Washington Wizards, complained about Anthony’s selection in a series of tweets Thursday, calling the decision “the definition of politics” and saying Wizards guard Bradley Beal should have replaced Love instead.

Wizards center Marcin Gortat retweeted several of Dudley’s tweets and concurred it was a “big shame” that Anthony was chosen over Beal.

Anthony is having another strong year. He is averaging 23.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists.

When criticized by other Twitter users who said they believed Dudley simply disliked Anthony, Dudley quickly responded he had nothing against the Knicks star, and argued he believed Beal was more deserving of the All-Star nod because the Wizards (33-21) are the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference, as opposed to the Knicks, (23-34) who are 12th and will likely miss this year’s playoffs.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 17: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center on November 17, 2016 in Washington, DC.