Carmelo Anthony Admits To ‘Sizing Up’ George Gervin And Paul Pierce At The NBA’s 75th Anniversary

Carmelo Anthony recently appeared on the Ball Magnets podcast where he talked about the experience of making it onto the NBA 75^th Anniversary team. As a 10-time All-Star and one of the greatest scorers to ever play the game, Melo’s inclusion was a no-brainer. However, once he made it to the room where the rest of the players were, he realized that there were different levels within this team.

He said that by looking at how the players were lined up and who was getting more attention, it was easy to understand who held more value in the team. While the center of attention was the obvious choice, Michael Jordan, Melo soon spotted the players that he was going to ‘size up’. He admitted that he was sizing up George Gervin and Paul Pierce.

He said, “I was sizing up guys that played my position. On that list, it was George Gervin, it was…Bob McAdoo, it was…KD [Kevin Durant] was in there, it was Paul Pierce. I’m talking about older guys too. We’re talking about 75 years. Guys that you probably never know, like, I don’t know some of these guys who were in there. I mean, a lot of guys in wheelchairs, they’re older.”

But their age didn’t stop Melo from sizing them up as he was trying to find his position within the group of the NBA’s best. It’s surprising that someone as accomplished as Anthony was having a tough time standing in that room. With 28,289 points, he holds the 10^th position in the NBA’s all-time scoring list. His contribution to the game of basketball has been immense.

However, there is a missing piece on his resume that could have given him more confidence in that room. In his 19-year-long career, Melo never won a championship. He couldn’t even make a trip to the Finals. He did make it to the Conference Finals once in 2009, but most of the players in that room boast at least one title win in their careers.

Interestingly, it has never been a matter of great concern for Melo. During a conversation on BasketNews, he was asked if he would trade his gold medals, which he has won thrice in the Olympics, for an NBA trophy. Melo said, “A medal means something totally different than an NBA championship…It’s the passion. It’s the pride…For a whole country.”

Carmelo Anthony says he wouldn’t trade his gold medals for an NBA championship

“A medal means something totally different than an NBA championship… It’s the passion. It’s the pride… For a whole country.”

(🎥 @BasketNews_com / h/t @ClutchPoints )

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— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 13, 2024

So, even though he will never be an NBA Champion, Melo can take pride in the fact that he is one of the all-time greats when it comes to international basketball. Having three gold medals and a bronze is an accomplishment that most NBA legends don’t have.