New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony upset with magazine's assessment

Carmelo Anthony took offense to SLAM Magazine's ranking of the New York Knicks star as the 15th-best player in the NBA entering the 2016-17 season.

"I just looked at it, and it was disrespectful," Anthony said after practice Thursday. "I feel like I have something to prove, regardless of what's going on."

Anthony, 32, averaged just 21.8 points last year -- his lowest per-game mark since his second season in the league with the Denver Nuggets in 2004-05 -- as the Knicks limped to a disappointing 32-50 campaign.

Anthony said that he won't use the perceived slight as motivation.

"I don't really need something like that to motivate me," he said. "Probably somebody sitting at their desk over at SLAM coming up and doing their job."

The nine-time All-Star and former league scoring champion also reacted to the ranking on Instagram, commenting "don't play yaself" and "all credibility lost in my (eyes)" on SLAM's account Wednesday.

The magazine is unveiling its list of the top 50 players in the league day by day leading up to the Oct. 25 opening night, when the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers host the Knicks.

SLAM released two more rankings Thursday, pegging Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin as the 13th and 14th best players, respectively.