William Wesley informed New York Knicks' owner James Dolan that Carmelo Anthony was unhappy with the direction of the team under Mike D'Antonio shortly before he stepped down as head coach, according to a source.
A source says Dolan was easily swayed by Wesley.
When Anthony returned from injury in mid-February, the Knicks had been transformed due to the emergence of Jeremy Lin.
"Lin was getting what Carmelo was promised," says a source close to the Knicks. "And Carmelo thought D'Antoni was going to favor Jeremy, so he had to get D'Antoni out of there.
"It works out perfect for Carmelo. There's little if any of his DNA on there."
Anthony has played his best basketball during Team USA games where he could take a secondary role and focus on scoring. But Anthony couldn't see himself sharing lead time with a Lin.
"He's not an alpha dog. He might think he is, but he's not," says a source close to the Knicks. "He needs to be around someone who is feared, someone who could tell him what to do. He just couldn't see Jeremy Lin that way. He could see Kobe and LeBron that way in the Olympics, sure, but not Jeremy Lin. Carmelo's whole thing is perception."
Anthony rebelled against D'Antoni's offense with the Knicks, but the former coach largely orchestrated Team USA's offense.
"It's the ultimate irony of this whole thing," the source says. "Carmelo was at his best and most efficient running that offense. It couldn't be more obvious to him, and he couldn't be more oblivious to it."
