If there is one thing that both LeBron James and Michael Jordan fans can agree upon, is the ability they possess to take over the game and score at will. In fact, during their respective careers, it ended up becoming somewhat of a law amongst opponents to never piss off either James or Jordan. So, when this former New York Knicks guard claimed that Carmelo Anthony was better a scorer than MJ and LeBron, it’s safe to say that not many hotter takes have been seen by the NBA community.
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Former New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton recently made an appearance on the Run Your Race podcast with Theo Pison. During his interview, Felton may have said something that is going to trigger both Bron and MJ fans.
“That dude man, just the way he can score, how easy it is for him. I don’t know nobody who’s better, imma be honest with you. I’m talking about Tracy McGrady, I’m talking about MJ, I’m talking about Kobe, LeBron, all these guys. Like, the way he used to score at every level, I don’t know nobody who’s better, for real.”
When asked again if Felton believed Carmelo Anthony was the best scorer, he took a minute and added, “From all levels, yeah. From all levels, post-up, got footwork, mid-range is impeccable, shoot the three, athletic, can dunk on you, can get to the basket, handles like a point guard…Whatever you want, he can give it to you.”
Raymond Felton went on to explain why Carmelo Anthony was the best scorer he had seen. One thing he mentioned right away was ‘from all levels’, Anthony was apparently more proficient than anybody the former NBA man had ever seen. Felton then went on to break down how Carmelo Anthony was a beast in almost every aspect of the offense.
Listed at 6’8 and around 230 lbs, Melo had enough weight to throw around and was still agile enough to beat defenders off the dribble. From there, he could either take the ball to the rim and finish over multiple players or pull back at the last minute to rise up for a mid-range jumper, something he had mastered by the time he joined the New York Knicks. Melo was also one of the few small forwards to form a post-up game, not to mention his deadly triple-threat stance that went on to become the norm for future players in the NBA.
The illustrious career of Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony was a walking bucket the minute he stepped onto the hardwood floor. Melo made his way into the NBA along with legendary names like Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James in the 2003 NBA draft.
Right from the get-go, Melo seemed to be destined to win all the rookie honors that year. Winning the first six Rookie of the Month awards in the Western Conference, Melo averaged 21.0 PPG his very first year, along with 6.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, while shooting 42.6% from the field, per StatMuse.
Despite averaging 0.1 points more than LeBron James’ 20.9, Anthony missed out on the Rookie of the Year award. He not only averaged a point more, Melo also led the Denver Nuggets to the playoffs as opposed to LBJ and also defeated his co-draft classmate both times they met in their first season.
By the end of his career, Melo was a 10-time All-Star [per NBA.com] and finished his career as one of the top 10 scorers of all time. Though he did not win a title, Anthony did become the first NBA player to win three Olympic gold medals for his country, something he eventually held higher than winning a ring.
