Former New York Knicks assistant coach Jerry Dunn says that the team's star forward, Carmelo Anthony, is "very misunderstood" by the public.

Currently in Tokyo as a special adviser during the Japan women's national team's ongoing training camp, Dunn insisted that Anthony, one of the biggest names mentioned in this summer's NBA trade talks, is a much better player on and off the floor than he is given credit for.

"He is a great player," said Dunn, the head coach for the Tuskegee (Alabama) University men's basketball team, at the National Training Center in Tokyo on Tuesday. "He's skilled, can play four positions on the floor, and really he's a better defensive player than most people think."

Dunn, who was in charge of player development for the Knicks during the 2012-13 season, added that Anthony is a great teammate in the locker room, too.

"I think he gets a bad rep about not being a good teammate," the 62-year-old Dunn said. "I think he's a great teammate. I've seen him work with guys on his side, rookies, veteran guys.

"When I've been around him, he's treated (everyone), whether the person was a custodian, or whether it's a coach, whether it's a fan, he's treated with the utmost respect. I have a great deal of admiration and respect for Carmelo Anthony."

Dunn suggested that sometimes perceptions can be different if you aren't around the person in question.

"I think you have to be around (him) on a daily basis to understand what a great human being he is," Dunn said of the 31-year-old Anthony. "And I think that's understated. He does a lot of things behind the scenes."

Dunn said that the Brooklyn native has done a lot for the community and people in New York.

"He's a true professional," Dunn said. "The way he's given himself, the way he goes out after the season and finds ways to make himself better. I mean, he's one of the best I've seen at that."

Meanwhile, Tomohide Utsumi's Japan squad is preparing for the FIBA Asia Championship, which begins Aug. 29 in Wuhan, China. Japan, the defending Asian champion, hopes to improve even more, capitalizing on advice from Dunn, a longtime head coach for the Penn State University men's team (1995-2003) and a Nittany Lions assistant from 1983-95 before taking the top job.

Last year, Tom Hovasse, an assistant for the Japan national team and a former Penn State player when Dunn coached there, invited Dunn to Japan to watch the JX-Eneos Sunflowers, a WBJL team that Hovasse works for as an assistant. Hovasse asked Dunn to help the national team this year.

"He's been talking some zone (defense) stuff, he's been looking at transition, some of our zone stuff as well," Hovasse said. "He's got so much knowledge. It's not just defensive, (but) he's got a lot of offensive stuff as well."

Although he has spent only a short time with the national squad, Dunn has a favorable impression of the team (he was scheduled to return to the U.S. after the current training camp finished on Thursday).

"I like what I've seen so far," said Dunn, a former University of Michigan bench boss (2007-10). "I think Coach Utsumi does a really good job teaching fundamentals.

"I've watched his practices, very organized, and they have a purpose. The girls play hard. They play together. And they play smart."