Jayson Tatum Claims He Can Best Prime Carmelo Anthony 11–8 in 1-on-1 Matchup

Carmelo Anthony’s prime was likely during the mid-2000s to the early 2010s. In his prime, Melo was among the most prolific scorers in the league’s history. So, for any player to beat him in that period wouldn’t be an easy task. However, Jayson Tatum believes that he has what it takes to beat a Prime Melo in a 1v1 matchup.

While the Celtics superstar was leaving the 7 PM in Brooklyn after a sit-down, he was stopped by Carmelo Anthony’s son, Kiyan Anthony, for a quick question. The 17-year-old asked JT who would win in a one-on-one between him and his father at his prime.

The reigning NBA Champion confidently stated that he would defeat the 10-time All-Star easily in a game till 11.

“If you play my pops one on one in his prime, to 11, what do you think the score would be?” Kiyan asked.

Tatum wanted to clarify what he meant by Melo’s prime and asked Kiyan to specify the years. He said, “Like last year with the Nuggets, going into the Knicks.” The 26-year-old replied, “We’re going to 11? 11-8, me.”

Tatum also had a question for Kiyan after that. He asked who would win between Kiyan and him at the age of 17.

Melo’s son showed confidence initially and said that he’d beat Tatum at his age. However, when the five-time All-Star pressed him, Kiyan said, “Yeah… Nah, I’m lying.”

The initial question about Tatum and Melo is difficult to answer. Even though Tatum is in his prime, he believes that there’s a lot more that he can do. Melo, on the other hand, is one of the greatest scorers this game has ever seen.

Regardless, there’s a lot of mutual respect between the two.

Melo backed Tatum despite an underwhelming start to the Finals

At the beginning of the Finals, Tatum’s shooting was all over the place. Even though he was doing a lot of other things, people expected him to carry the scoring responsibilities as the face of the franchise.

Fortunately, he had Jaylen Brown to fill that void. On an episode of his podcast, Melo bashed people who tried to write off JT.

“[It’s a pity] We can’t just accept them for who they [Tatum and Brown] are. They nice…Why we even trying to wedge in the middle to separate the two…There is no team that ever won a championship who didn’t have a Batman and Robin. You have to, it’s impossible. We should be embracing Jaylen and Tatum for what they do.”

The NBA legend used the example of the late, great Kobe Bryant to state that every player needs another Hall of Famer to win titles. That necessary help shouldn’t be seen as a weakness.