Will Carmelo Anthony Legacy Significantly Improve with Time?

[Chronz]

Can’t speak to the consensus, but I don’t see Melo as a Top 75 all-time player. His legacy to me is similar to that of McGrady, English and Dantley – great scorers who never accomplished the ultimate goal of a championship.

That's a horrible tier system and way of ranking players imo

[Chronz]

Melo put his stats and money above winning his whole career, he moved to NY for what it would do for his and his wife's career off the basketball court, and as a result he never won ****. The sad part is that Melo was arguably the 2nd most talented player of his generation, he really did have every skill necessary to be the best player on a championship team, but he didn't care enough about it.

Melo will be forgotten over time, just like a lot of very good players that never won and put their money and stats ahead of winning. In 20 years nobody will talk about him, and in 40 years even his most die hard fans will have long forgotten him, that is just the way it goes.

in 20 years his kids and grandkids will, in 40's great grandkids will still be living better than 99.99999% of the population they'll still be thankful and talking about him. what do you think is better for him? that or a ring that'll eventually end up on ebay.

The ring

[Chronz]

Yes I think ppl will look at his stats and hold him in higher regard than those who watched his career. Fact of the matter is, he never really led a team anywhere, and he's not one of those guys who suffered bad luck e.g. Nash, Barkley. Some might point to the 2009 ECF Nuggets, but I would contend that Billups was their best player and leader.

He didn't have bad luck? The Nuggets we're missing a starter pretty much every year he was here. Amare had 1 good season in New York and Chauncey blew out his Achilles his 1st year in New York. That is not bad luck?

What about Anthony Carter throwing 2 bad inbounds passes in the final seconds of two conference title games costing the Nuggets both games, that isn't bad luck?

Also anybody that watched that conference finals run that thinks Melo wasn't the best Nuggets player didn't actually watch the games. Billions was the leader, but it was Melo that teams had a constant double if not triple coverage on throughout the playoffs, just like the rest of his time in Denver. The big exception was that we finally had guys who could hit their wide open shots.

I saw every game that post season and tons of Nuggets games back then. Billups was their best player

[The Rebel]

Yes I think ppl will look at his stats and hold him in higher regard than those who watched his career. Fact of the matter is, he never really led a team anywhere, and he's not one of those guys who suffered bad luck e.g. Nash, Barkley. Some might point to the 2009 ECF Nuggets, but I would contend that Billups was their best player and leader.

He didn't have bad luck? The Nuggets we're missing a starter pretty much every year he was here. Amare had 1 good season in New York and Chauncey blew out his Achilles his 1st year in New York. That is not bad luck?

What about Anthony Carter throwing 2 bad inbounds passes in the final seconds of two conference title games costing the Nuggets both games, that isn't bad luck?

Also anybody that watched that conference finals run that thinks Melo wasn't the best Nuggets player didn't actually watch the games. Billions was the leader, but it was Melo that teams had a constant double if not triple coverage on throughout the playoffs, just like the rest of his time in Denver. The big exception was that we finally had guys who could hit their wide open shots.

I saw every game that post season and tons of Nuggets games back then. Billups was their best player

So you just started watching basketball?

[Chronz]

He didn't have bad luck? The Nuggets we're missing a starter pretty much every year he was here. Amare had 1 good season in New York and Chauncey blew out his Achilles his 1st year in New York. That is not bad luck?

What about Anthony Carter throwing 2 bad inbounds passes in the final seconds of two conference title games costing the Nuggets both games, that isn't bad luck?

Also anybody that watched that conference finals run that thinks Melo wasn't the best Nuggets player didn't actually watch the games. Billions was the leader, but it was Melo that teams had a constant double if not triple coverage on throughout the playoffs, just like the rest of his time in Denver. The big exception was that we finally had guys who could hit their wide open shots.

I saw every game that post season and tons of Nuggets games back then. Billups was their best player

So you just started watching basketball?

Dang, I thought I had all my bases covered

[Tottery]

Looking at your list of "better players," I personally believe Payton is better. He was a more balanced player. He could score and play elite defense. 9x All-Star, 9x All-Defensive, and won DPOY. The others are tough.

Anthony will be remembered as a scorer and nothing more.

[Pennebaker]

I watch the comparison board a lot and generally Carmelo Anthony performs horrible on all comparison topics. In the last year i've seen people generally agree that all of the following players are better than Anthony:

Tracy McGrady
Ray Allen
Reggie Miller
Gary Payton
Paul Pierce
Jason Kidd
Chris Paul
Paul George
Jimmy Butler
Jayson Tatum
Chauncey Billups
etc

I get Melos Career had a rough decline but why is everyone so dismissive of his accomplishments. Will we really look back and remember someone like Paul George or Jimmy Butler as superior to Melo?

When looking at career accomplishments can you really justify a case for Butler or PG13 as better player than Melo?

Melo:
Top 10 all time scorer with 28,000 career points
3 Gold Olympic Medals
NBA Scoring Champion
NCAA national champion
10x NBA all star

PG13
15000 career points
7x NBA all star

Butler
12000 career points
6x NBA all star
2 NBA finals losses

Chauncy Billups, Jayson Tatum and TMac are not better than Carmelo Anthony. That's ridiculous.

[tsherkin]

Chauncy Billups and Jayson Tatum are not better than Carmelo Anthony. That's ridiculous.

Mmm. Jayson Tatum has been about as good as an average Melo prime season these past three years, but also an actually GOOD defender, and more capable of facilitating team offense. Denver Melo's only major separation is that he shot more and thus posted a higher PPG in a couple seasons. New York Melo was a little bit of a different beast, but the defensive side of things still handily makes up the difference.

[Pennebaker]

Chauncy Billups and Jayson Tatum are not better than Carmelo Anthony. That's ridiculous.

Mmm. Jayson Tatum has been about as good as an average Melo prime season these past three years, but also an actually GOOD defender, and more capable of facilitating team offense. Denver Melo's only major separation is that he shot more and thus posted a higher PPG in a couple seasons. New York Melo was a little bit of a different beast, but the defensive side of things still handily makes up the difference.

Tatum is 23. He literally doesn't know anything about the NBA right at this moment. He cannot compete with Melo's legacy. Not even close.

[tsherkin]

Tatum is 23. He literally doesn't know anything about the NBA right at this moment. He cannot compete with Melo's legacy. Not even close.

That's an empty statement. He's already put in a half-decade of play and made the All-Star team 3 years in a row. Boston in that time has made the conference finals twice and an additional Finals appearance beyond that. From a team success perspective, he's already surpassed Carmelo, is a much better defender and facilitates better ball movement.

Yes, it's early and his career is incomplete, but he's already the obviously-superior player. There are a lot of those, because Melo has primarily been empty PPG for the bulk of his career, and a bunch of empty seasons as a bench scoring threat aren't really going to change that for Anthony.

[NZB2323]

Can’t speak to the consensus, but I don’t see Melo as a Top 75 all-time player. His legacy to me is similar to that of McGrady, English and Dantley – great scorers who never accomplished the ultimate goal of a championship.

Like Paul Pierce before he got KG and Ray Allen?

[tsherkin]

Can’t speak to the consensus, but I don’t see Melo as a Top 75 all-time player. His legacy to me is similar to that of McGrady, English and Dantley – great scorers who never accomplished the ultimate goal of a championship.

Like Paul Pierce before he got KG and Ray Allen?

If he was less effective on the court, sure. Pierce was a notably better player.

[bbalnation]

Whos often the "leading" (ie first, loudest, most viewed, etc) voice in conversations around "legacy"?

What are the criteria to be a selected leading voice in weighing the legacy of a career in professional basketball & media?

[devilsadvocate9]

Path to improve:
It’s the year 2083
Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks are still the last Knicks team to win a playoff series

[jokeboy86]

Can’t speak to the consensus, but I don’t see Melo as a Top 75 all-time player. His legacy to me is similar to that of McGrady, English and Dantley – great scorers who never accomplished the ultimate goal of a championship.

Like Paul Pierce before he got KG and Ray Allen?

It's a tough one to decide but Pierce v Melo is closer than people think and I don't know why some just clearly have Pierce over Melo like its no debate because of his ring. Before KG/Allen, Pierce led teams did about the same as those Melo-led Nuggets teams and they both have some seasons where their teams didn't do much of anything. This is one of the reasons why I personally have no problem putting T-Mac over both because I feel the rosters he played with were just plain unlucky at times.

[tsherkin]

It's a tough one to decide but Pierce v Melo is closer than people think and I don't know why some just clearly have Pierce over Melo like its no debate because of his ring.

That's a fair question. The ring is to do with team context, of course. But there's also player ability. People like Melo because of the aesthetic of his game, and because of his raw PPG, right? Melo had a 9-year stretch where he averaged 26.3 ppg. On the surface, fairly impressive. Less so when you consider his efficiency and the rest of his game, but there's still a baseline level of achievement involved in doing that. He was a skilled shooter and isolation player with a nasty first step who was fast in transition. Good stuff.

Pierce only posted that volume 5 times in his career, mostly because it wasn't required of him. He was more efficient, he was a better passer and defender. And he still had a 7-year prime where he averaged 24.8 ppg. And of course, also a 10-time All-Star, etc. And yeah, he does have that Finals MVP, which is another feather in his cap. It's an interesting conversation. Melo was like someone who looked at Pierce and didn't quite get what made him good, but had better physical tools. But Pierce was craftier and shot better, moved the ball better, put more consistent effort into defense. So I guess it's like "old man game" vs "physical tools," and of course Pierce comes out on top in terms of efficacy...

Except, you have to consider Melo's first three seasons in New York. He did a really, really good job for the Knicks in that short stretch, playing far better than at any other point of his career. It makes direct player comparisons with him a little challenging. It's kind of like he "got it" just before he started to backslide physically, and then abandoned it once his career arc became clear.

[Woodsanity]

Can’t speak to the consensus, but I don’t see Melo as a Top 75 all-time player. His legacy to me is similar to that of McGrady, English and Dantley – great scorers who never accomplished the ultimate goal of a championship.

Like Paul Pierce before he got KG and Ray Allen?

It's a tough one to decide but Pierce v Melo is closer than people think and I don't know why some just clearly have Pierce over Melo like its no debate because of his ring. Before KG/Allen, Pierce led teams did about the same as those Melo-led Nuggets teams and they both have some seasons where their teams didn't do much of anything. This is one of the reasons why I personally have no problem putting T-Mac over both because I feel the rosters he played with were just plain unlucky at times.

I honestly believe if you swap Melo and Pierce they would have still won one ring so ultimately yes they are fairly comparable players. You can even argue Melo is better.

That being said I don't rate Pierce that high to begin with anyway. The best player on those Celtics teams was always very clearly KG.

[TheLand13]

There was a time when you could argue that Caremlo was the best scorer in the NBA. But being consistently average on defense at best and not excelling much in any other area of the game hurt what he could have been. I've always felt that he had what it took to lead a team to the finals. He had the confidence, he didn't crack under pressure. He was never afraid of the big moment. But he also cared more about the money and being in the big apple than being on a great team in Denver. It's a shame that's when things seemed to really fall apart for him. Apart from 2013, his time in New York showcased his weaknesses as a player, and why it was almost impossible to build a championship contender around him.