Carmelo Anthony's dark days with the New York Knicks are now miles away after accepting a trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder last month. But memories of his strenuous relationship with former president Phil Jackson are still vivid in his memory bank, remembering how it all went south between the two.

“When I signed back with the Knicks, I wanted to be in New York and I believed in Phil,’’ Anthony said in reference a $125 million contract with a no-trade clause that he agreed to with Jackson in July 2014, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

“Then last year it went to: I was being pushed out. There were things being said about me that I didn’t know where they were coming from. And I still had to go in that gym and play and practice and deal with the media, answer all those questions every day.”

Jackson's discontent with Anthony turned sour, as he made several comments to the media suggesting he wanted no part of Anthony on the team throughout the season. Melo noted the two spoke face to face “maybe twice” during the entire 2016-17 season.

The longtime coach-turned-president of basketball operations ultimately dangled Anthony for trade talks during the exit interviews after the Knicks' season had concluded — a move many in NBA circles saw as despicable on his part.

“There was no support from the organization,” Anthony said. “When you feel like you’re on your own and then on top of that you feel like you’re being pushed out…”

If Anthony had any determination to outlast Jackson at one point, it was rapidly eroding after each action the Zen Master took throughout the season.

phil jackson carmelo anthony
Robert Sabo/New York Daily News

“I think at that point it was too far gone,” Anthony said. “I already had in my mind that I wanted to win, that I wanted to move on. We didn’t think it would take as long as it did, but my mind was already made up.”

Anthony noted the delay on his original trade from that day on stemmed from the fact that Jackson was willing “to trade me for a bag of chips,” while Scott Perry, who later became the Knicks’ new general manager after Jackson was sacked, was rather more selective in his approach — hoping to reap as much return from their star.

“They went from asking for peanuts to asking for steak,” Anthony said with a laugh.

Ultimately, his trade to the Thunder worked out as expected, now a part of a team with two perennial All-Stars and in position to make a dent in a loaded Western Conference — a much more enticing proposition than battling for the .500 mark for a franchise with rebuilding intentions.