“To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.”- Ric Flair (WOOOO!)
It was just about 10 years ago that basketball fans around the world would be introduced to LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony on a grand stage. James, who had just finished up his senior campaign at Akron’s Saint Vincent Saint Mary’s High School — what would turn out to be the most storied high school basketball career since Lew Alcindor — was the talk of the basketball world. After covering Sports Illustrated as a junior, starring on nationally televised games as a senior and becoming as ingrained on Sportscenter as the “Da-da-da…da-da-da” melody, LBJ was ready to officially step into the limelight as the 2003 NBA Draft approached.
The same could be said for Anthony.
The man they call “Melo” had just come off of one of the more memorable NCAA Championship runs in history. As the freshman, Anthony led Syracuse with 22.2 points and 10 rebounds per game, and guided the Orange to a perfect record in the tournament; Syracuse’s only NCAA National Championship in its 112 year history.
While there was never any doubt about who the Cleveland Cavaliers would select with the #1 overall pick (and little doubt of the player that most felt would have the more successful pro career), a very real debate about the present was catching fire across the nation:
Who’s better: LeBron or Melo?
It was a legitimate debate to say the least. LeBron was a better passer and all-around athlete coming out of high school, but Carmelo had a more refined offensive game and had won at a higher level. The two had actually battled on the high school level a year earlier, but now the entire basketball world was beginning to take notice.
Sidebar: In case you were wondering, Anthony’s Oak Hill squad won that game 72-66. James had 36 points on 12-of-27 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and six steals. Anthony had 34 points on 14-of-25 shooting with 11 rebounds and two assists.
Carmelo-backers were validated by a competitive race for the 2003-04 Rookie of the Year Award. Some pundits, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon among the most noteworthy, believed Melo should’ve taken home the hardware. Melo’s Denver Nuggets actually made the playoffs, while LeBron fell just short; it happened again in their second season as well.
Sidebar: I highly suggest you watch the entire video from the link above if you haven’t seen it before. Really dope retrospective on LeBron’s career.
As time went on though, the narrative changed. LeBron zoomed past Melo in basically every way. Overall development, defense, cachet, individual awards, team success, endorsements, even scoring, which was supposed to be Melo’s bread & butter.
And soon it became widely acceptable for Carmelo Anthony to play second banana to LeBron James.
If the New York Knicks are to reach their fullest potential, they will have to go through James’ Miami Heat. And in order for that to happen, Carmelo Anthony must completely indulge himself in the personal battle with LeBron James. It worked for Stone Cold against Bret Hart, it can work for Melo too.
Injuries have marred this NBA season and these playoffs. In the Eastern Conference specifically, injuries to Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo and Danny Granger have made the Heat’s path to a third straight NBA Finals exceedingly easy. However, the path has been made easy for the Knicks as well. Realistically, this may be Anthony’s best chance to win a title as the lead dog.
Melo has been ballin like few others since the Olympics, where a strong case could have been made that he was the best player on the team. He’s carried that confidence into this season, much like Charles Barkley did when he led the Phoenix Suns to the 1993 Finals, coming off of the 1992 Olympics. Melo, by his own admission, has had the best season of his career, winning his first scoring title and leading the Knicks to 54 wins.
High School was a decade ago. The time has come for Carmelo to put away childish things and rewrite his own history, lest he be stuck with the King James version.
Now is not the time to play nice with LeBron, or anyone else. Melo has always been extremely respectful of LBJ’s ability, but until he truly believes and carries himself like he is the best player in the world, the Knicks will never get past the Heat. Right now, New York and Miami appear to be on a collision-course for the Eastern Conference Finals.
Carmelo Anthony’s mentality must be, “If I can just be better than that guy four times, we will go to the NBA Finals.”
Is it possible? Yes. Melo has the talent to outshine LeBron— in fact, he’s done it before (historically, the head-to-head matchup is more even than you might think). Is it likely to happen? Well, it may seem hard to envision. And the danger of this frame of thinking is that Carmelo would get suckered into a game of 1-on-1 in his own mind. But the Knicks have no choice but for their star player to take this approach; it is the same approach Kevin Durant appears to be taking.
KD is sick of coming in second place and he didn’t hesitate to tell Sports Illustrated all about it. He trained with LeBron last summer after he lost to him in the Finals, but now Durant is gunning for the throne.
That is the mentality needed to beat the very best. Durant knows it, and he’s only in his sixth season. Carmelo is in his 10th NBA season— it ain’t cute to get you team to the playoffs and get bounced out after a tough second round series. You can’t keep getting your lunch money taken by LeBron, Kobe or whoever is on top at the moment. Carmelo is far too talented to go down as this generation’s “guy who only made it out of the first round once”.
In HHSR’s Eastern Conference preview piece, it was mentioned that this was a make or break season for Deron Williams and Andrew Bynum (Bynum clearly just broke). One of our loyal readers, “NY Bias”, astutely pointed out that Carmelo should be added to this list. The last third of the regular season for Melo was akin to B Rabbit’s battle vs Lickety Split. The first two rounds of the 2013 playoffs is like Melo telling the Celtics and Pacers, “Snoop Dogg just got a fuckin boob job!”
You already know what happens next.
The 18-year-old that put the Cuse on his back is long gone, and has since been replaced by a guy known for coming up small in the month of May. The good news is there’s still time to change this narrative. If he cares anything about being one of the greats the game has ever seen, Melo will have to crank out four of these performances with King James on the court.
Carmelo Anthony’s mission, should he choose to accept it: Be better than LeBron James.
The fate of Gotham City rests on your shoulders, Mr. Anthony.