“I’ll beat Michael Jordan”: Carmelo Anthony, in His Knicks Days, Once Claimed He’d Beat MJ 1-on-1
Carmelo Anthony is one of the most prolific scorers in the game of basketball. The 6ft 7” forward came into the league in 2003, in probably the best Draft in NBA history as the 3rd overall pick to the Denver Nuggets.
By the time he and LeBron James came in, Michael Jordan had already taken his 3rd and final retirement, and it was the first generation of basketball players in 19–20 years who wouldn’t get the chance to share the court with His Airness.
Like anyone in the States his age, Melo grew up idolizing MJ, but when you become a superstar in the NBA, especially after putting up a show in Madison Square Garden every other night, you become as confident as they come.
And Anthony was so confident of his abilities that he once said that he wouldn’t let a prime MJ win 1-on-1 against him, while also claiming to beat him if the match was to happen then.
When Carmelo Anthony claimed he’d beat Michael Jordan 1-on-1
In a YouTube gold that we recently came across, the 10x All-Star is giving a candid interview and comes across a question that probably every NBA superstar faces once in their career.
Now, whether he was serious about his claims of engaging the 10x scoring champ and 9x All-Defensive First Team selections in a 1-on-1, or he was saying it because he should as a superstar, we don’t know. But the man said, a 1-on-1 between them “wouldn’t probably finish” in MJ’s prime while he claimed “I’ll beat him,” if they played then.
Yeah, he probably beats a 50-year-old MJ. But, there’s no way that Anthony believes all of what he said.
He’d surely put on a show alright, we have seen him play against prime Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, but it would take more than that to engage prime Jordan when you have challenged him to a 1-on-1. It would never be a ‘no result’.
Also read: “Michael Jordan Was a Killer LeBron James Isn’t”: When Floyd Mayweather Chose His GOAT in the NBA
Anthony could have been one of the GOATs if he went to Pistons in 2003
Carmelo Anthony is also considered one of the greatest snubs by a franchise as the Detroit Pistons could have had him but instead went for Darko Milic as the #2 overall and missed their chance on creating a dynasty with Melo as one of its core members.
Following that neither Pistons won a championship after their 2003-04 title, nor Carmelo got to be in a contending team, or shall we say a team that would make it to the NBA Finals.
He did play in a couple of good teams in the NBA with OKC Thunder and Houston Rockets, but it didn’t work out because either it was past his prime or he didn’t gel with other superstars.
However, his whole trajectory as a player would have been different altogether if Pistons took him when they should have.
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