Many may not agree with this but Carmelo Anthony was one of the purest scorers to ever grace the game of basketball. Though Melo did not retire with an NBA championship under his belt, his scoring ability was next to none. Among many players who have described guarding Anthony as a ‘nightmare,’ Andre Iguodala compared going up against Melo to being in a UFC fight.
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Andre Iguodala was recently on an episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony and Kid Mero podcast. While on the show, Iggy gave Melo his flowers, mentioning how he was a top 10 scorer out of the 5000 NBA players there have been in the history of the game.
He also described how difficult and physically challenging it was guarding Carmelo back in the day.
“I couldn’t score the ball like Melo, I couldn’t rebound like Melo. He was just—he’s elite…It was almost like a UFC fight when you play Melo. You talk to anybody who had to guard Melo, it’s like, ‘yo, you can get beat up trying to guard him.’”
The 40-year-old was one of the players that had perfected the triple threat stance to his advantage. As soon as Melo got the ball, he would fall back into a triple-threat stance and toy with defenders as he pleased.
Melo could shoot the ball after a few jab steps to get the defender’s footing off balance. If the defender had his feet firmly planted, he would drive past him with ease.
But when it came to passing the ball, the three-time Olympic Gold medalist rather preferred going into a post-up mode and using his physicality to get the upper hand. And that is where he would dole out punishment to anyone who would try to guard him, something Iguodala remembers vividly.
While it may not have been evident in every play, Carmelo was one of the most physical players on offense. Given how easily he was able to score the ball, Melo’s physicality usually went under the radar. But that does not take away from the rough, hands-on type of play he had adopted in the league.
For instance, here is a video of Carmelo Anthony giving Kobe Bryant the business during his Denver Nuggets days.
Carmelo Anthony gets his flowers from Iggy & Rasheed Wallace
At the very start of the episode featuring Andre Iguodala, there is a clip wherein Iggy mentions going up against the 40-year-old. This was before Iguodala had made it into the league. Andre mentioned how he felt he wasn’t good enough to make it into the NBA after playing a one-on-one game against Anthony.
“The first time I played one-on-one with him, I was like, “Damn, I ain’t going into the league, in High School. I ain’t good enough. I ain’t never seen this before. I can’t, I ain’t got it.”
Iguodala was drafted a year after Carmelo’s 2003 NBA draft. And while Iggy felt as if he didn’t have what it takes to make it into the league, now, after nearly 20 years, Iguodala retired as a four-time NBA champion and with a Finals MVP to his name. But for an accomplished player to still say what Iggy said, goes a long way into Carmelo Anthony’s legacy.
Andre Iguodala wasn’t the only one who felt Carmelo Anthony’s game had excessive physicality. Even former Detroit Pistons legend, Rasheed Wallace felt the same. Wallace was drafted in the 90s when physicality was at the highest in the league.
But according to BasketballNetwork, Sheed felt Melo would’ve been a perfect fit back in the day. He also claimed that Anthony would go on to dominate the league.
“I think he was definitely one of them small/ power forwards that could have played back in the 90s era. Melo, that young forward, gets buckets. He don’t shy away from the physicality; that’s what I like about him, too. He could put on the floor.”
This narrative was something former NBA players often complained about. Over the years, numerous legends have stated how the league has gone soft, and current players wouldn’t last a bit back in the day.
But for Rasheed Wallace to give Melo that seal of approval only backs up Andre Iguodala’s claim, while also giving him his flowers.
