It doesn’t look like Carmelo Anthony and Michael Beasley are going to be playing 1-on-1 after all. Beasley called out Melo after defeating Lance Stephenson for $100,000 in a recent 1-on-1 pay-per-view on the TNC YouTube channel. He’s repeatedly put the soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer on blast, but Melo issued his final statement on the matter on yesterday’s episode of his podcast, 7PM in Brooklyn.
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Melo and Beasley had wildly different basketball paths, but both were known for their scoring ability, especially in isolation. They were both freshman phenoms in college, with Beasley being named an All-American at Kansas State and Melo doing the same while leading Syracuse to a national championship.
Melo became a perennial All-Star in the NBA, while Beasley battled personal issues while bouncing around the league. Still, he’s found a new lease on life in this later chapter of his career as the leading scorer in the Big3.
Beasley has overcome a lot to come out OK on the other side, and though he didn’t get a yes to his request for a 1-on-1 battle, Melo did give him his props for being one of the most talented players out there.
“I f*** with it though, man. The more I think about it, I f*** with it,” Melo said of the 1-on-1 challenge. “Because I know him, and I know how he thinks. He really wants to play, I’ll give him that, ’cause he loves to play, and he loves the game.”
“And I think now you’re starting to see him get that attention and that respect that he deserves, that for a long period of time when he was in the league and playing well, he still wasn’t getting the respect. I think the game was there, but I don’t think he was ready to respect the NBA.”
“Idon’t think he was ready for the professionalism that it takes to do what you do, and still be professional in the NBA,” he claimed.
Melo’s assessment is certainly a fair one, and Beasley himself has admitted that he could have handled his business better in his younger days. He ran afoul of the law and NBA rules and regulations on multiple occasions throughout his career, from drug-related issues to disciplinary problems and run-ins with fans.
Despite his prior transgressions, Beasley deserves credit for taking back control of his life. Melo gave him that credit while also applauding his skills on the court. “He is that guy, I’ll take my hat off to Beas,” Melo said. “When it comes to playing basketball, and 1-on-1, and streetball, this is what he does.”
“I would put my own money on Beas against people,” he continued, “because I understand what he actually brings to the game. Bears is one of the most talented players to ever play our game, to ever play in the NBA. So that respect for him will always be high-level. I support everything that he’s doing, and I also respect the energy and the attention that he’s bringing to this new 1-on-1 game of basketball.”
Melo is in a great spot in life. He’s about to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, he has a highly successful podcast, and he’ll even be an analyst on the NBA on NBC beginning this fall. His son Kiyan is a highly-ranked recruit who is following in his footsteps at Syracuse. There’s just not a lot of incentive for him to lace his sneakers back up again to take on Beasley.
Beasley may not get the on-court matchup that he wants, but the respect he’s getting from an all-time great like Melo is a pretty reasonable consolation.
