Lots of people around the NBA have heaped their praise on Nikola Jokic recently, and rightfully so, but recently, on an episode of the Young Man and the Three, Nicolas Batum said that former Nuggets great, Carmelo Anthony, was the “toughest guy I had to guard in my career.”
This is high praise coming from the veteran Batum, who has been one of the best wing defenders in the league since he entered the NBA in 2008. He has done battle with all-time legends like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and countless others. Yet still, he identified Melo as being harder to guard than any of them.
Taking it even further, Nico specified that he was talking about “Denver Melo”. He explained how he was young and skinnier when he entered the league, but was always tasked with guarding the other team’s best player, which included Anthony when he faced the Nuggets.
He raved about Carmelo being able to do everything, how he was strong, but also fast and athletic, he could break guys down off the dribble or shoot right over them. Melo could play inside and out, he could use bully-ball or finesse, he had incredible jabsteps, hesitations, pull-ups, and turnarounds.
Carmelo Anthony was one of the best scorers who ever lived
When it came to scoring the basketball, there were no holes in Carmelo’s game. His tenure in Denver didn’t end on the best possible terms, and much of his achievements have been overshadowed by the greatness of Nikola Jokic, but it’s nice to see Melo get his flowers and be remembered for the pure scoring machine that he was.
But now that Melo’s career is over, he should start to get the recognition and appreciation he deserves. That will begin on Saturday, as he’ll be officially inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and it should continue as he’ll be joining the NBA on NBC broadcast this season as an analyst.
Hopefully, having him back in the spotlight will allow people to compartmentalize his career and focus on what a great player he was. Sure, he never won a title or an MVP award, but a lot of that had to do with circumstance.
For several years, Melo was one of the best players on the planet. He helped define an era, and a whole generation of basketball fans were raised on watching his brilliance, from Oak Hill to Syracuse, to the Nuggets, the Knicks, to Team USA, and beyond.
He was one of the greatest to ever do it. Now that he’ll be immortalized in Springfield, hopefully generations of fans to come will realize that and appreciate him.