Carmelo Anthony took a moment to lament about how news of Kristaps Porzingis' season-ending injury landed on him, during his postgame interview with the press on Tuesday night, (Feb. 6) The 10-time NBA All-Star hadn't gotten a chance to reach out to his former Knicks teammate but was eager to do just that considering how devastating an ACL tear can be to a young player's psyche.

"It’s just sad to know that injury, the type of year he’s been having, the growth that he’s had over the past couple years and even this season,” Anthony told reporters after the Thunder's blowout victory over the Golden State Warriors. “As a friend, forget basketball. As a little brother — to see anybody go through that — but to see him have to deal with that, it’s tough to see and tough to watch.”

Anthony was himself forced to make an early exit after he sprained his ankle six minutes into the contest at Oracle Arena. But the prospects of his health in the immediate future are nowhere near as bleak as those Porzingis is looking at. Torn ACLs typically take between seven and twelve months to heal for players.

Porzingis suffered the blow midway through the second quarter of the Knicks’ 103-89 loss at home to the Bucks. He had just slammed a dunk over Giannis Antetokounmpo but wound up landing on the Milwaukee All-Star's foot when he came down. With confirmation that the 22-year-old will be forced to go under the knife, he completes his third season in the league averaging a career-high 22.7 points through 48 games.