Carmelo Anthony says Chris Paul should be a Laker

Apparently Carmelo Anthony wanted to make an already challenging game against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight much more difficult.

He thinks David Stern made a mistake by vetoing a trade of Chris Paul to the Lakers and said so after the Knicks loss to the Warriors Wednesday night, reports the New York Daily News.

“I thought it would have been good for the Lakers and good for the whole NBA,” Anthony said. “As a guy who loves to compete, I would have liked to see him out West with the Lakers. For me — I’ve been battling the Lakers for the last seven years when I was in the Western Conference — I liked that.”

Really, he liked how those Lakers vs. Nuggets series turned out?

The feeling around the league — and with me — is that Stern made this move not for “basketball reasons” but because it was the Lakers about to get better after a lockout that was about reining in the spending of power franchises. Some owners got angry — something that would not have happened if Paul was going to Golden State. Or the Clippers.

Anthony — who is friends with Paul, remember the wedding toast? — said he thinks his friend has adjusted to life with that other team in Los Angeles.

“Chris is over that, he has to be, at this point,” said Anthony, who had hoped that the Knicks could trade for his close friend. “At this point, that’s just a chapter in his book. I talked to him before his first game with the Clippers, when they beat the Warriors, and he’s super excited to be on that team.”

I love the “chapter in his book” theory, leaving the door open to the next chapter. Wherever it may be. But for now, after a sloppy loss to Golden State, Anthony and the Knicks need to worry about their 2011-12 chapter, not anyone elses.