JJ Redick shared a story on his podcast about a time when Carmelo Anthony asked his teammates not to pass the ball to Redick out of jealousy. At the time, Redick and Melo were two young players with a great future ahead. Melo would become one of the best players of his generations while Redick will always be remembered for his 3-point shooting and his streak of playoff appearances.
It all started when Redick played with Melo at McDonald’s All-American and earned the MVP of the game after dropping 26 in a 138-107 victory for his team. In that game, Melo scored 19, which sparked something inside him.
A week later, they attended the 2002 Jordan Brand Classic game, where Melo used his tricks to prevent Redick from getting another MVP award. He revealed he heard from everyone that Melo was saying “Don’t pass it to JJ, he will not be an MVP again”.
“He tells everyone (on our team), ‘JJ’s not gonna get MVP again (at the Jordan Class All-star game, a week after Mcdonald’s), I’m taking every shot.’ He took like 26 shots… I think I took like 7. ” When asked if Melo got the MVP, “No, he didn’t. We lost.”
In the end, Melo did his thing, but his team was dominated. They lost 167 to 121, while Melo scored 27 points and Redick only 7. The MVP would be to Amare Stoudemire and Sean May.
If Melo ever joins the podcast, we’ll probably see the truth behind that situation.
