The 2003 NBA draft class is one of those legendary draft classes with multiple legendary stars coming out of them. Two of those stars were Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. They are both on the Los Angeles Lakers now, working towards a championship. However, earlier in their careers, they were competitors. During his time with the Denver Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony was a leading superstar who was able to get buckets no matter what. While he wasn’t quite on the level of LeBron James, he was still an All-NBA caliber player who was the main scoring option on a Western Conference finals team.
George Karl coached Carmelo Anthony during his time in Denver, and on show Tiki and Tierney, Karl revealed that Carmelo Anthony wanted to be on the same level as LeBron James during his time in Denver, and would get hyped up whenever he would face LeBron James. This statement was made by Karl in response to a question asking why Carmelo Anthony hasn’t teamed up with LeBron James until this season.
The truth of the matter is I think Melo wanted to be on the same level as LeBron, and liked competing against LeBron. I know when we played LeBron when I coached Melo, Melo got fired up, he got into the game. When I was in Denver, we had a winning record against LeBron.
It makes sense that Carmelo Anthony wanted to be a competitor and compete against the best. Karl also theorized that the reason Carmelo Anthony is joining LeBron James now is that he understands that LeBron James is still going, while Anthony is no longer a superstar.
I think it was more of Melo understanding he was not on the same level of LeBron and his light was fading while LeBron’s was still shining.
Carmelo Anthony has the opportunity to win a title with LeBron James this season, and he still has a decent amount left in the tank. While he isn’t in his prime, Carmelo Anthony can still contribute as a bench scorer, and hopefully, he gets that title that is missing from his trophy cabinet.
