Carmelo Anthony was on top of the world during his playing days. He won the national championship with Syracuse then headed to be part of arguably the greatest NBA draft class. In the league, he had legendary runs with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks. He even found his way to the Los Angeles Lakers at some point. One cannot help but compare his legacy to other great things in the world. Common and Kid Mero were all in on trying to bridge similarities. Was it Nas, 2Pac, Kendrick Lamar, Jadakiss, or any other rapper?

Carmelo Anthony's legendary hip-hop comparison

Dec 16, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Carmelo Anthony (7) holds the basketball before the start of a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
© Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

A great and prospectively Hall of Fame-level career deserves a good comparison. Carmelo Anthony posits that there are two big names who fully represented his style of play from his Nuggets, Knicks, and the rest of his NBA days, via 7 PM in Brooklyn.

“I would say, Nas and a little bit of Kiss (Jadakiss),” the legend of the game said.

Common and Kid Mero would then interject saying how much he is like Jadakiss. They pointed out how raw but full of finesse Carmelo Anthony was during his career. A good example would be how insanely good his classic triple-threat jab step was.

“I mean I’ve never thought about that, but just going off what I know, and vibes, and careers, and music, and sound, and what they talk about, the art of it,” the Nuggets and Knicks legend concluded.

Melo was pure from all three levels of scoring. His acumen for getting the ball inside the basket saw him notch a career average of 22.5 points on an insane 44.7% clip. This landed him 10 All-Star nods, six All-NBA selections, and even a spot on the NBA's 75th anniversary team. All of which are accomplishments one can only reach due to exceptional talent.

Common joins Carmelo Anthony on the fun

The comparisons did not just go one way. Rappers also have extensive careers that can be similar to great NBA legends. Common is one of those insanely talented people when handling the mic, whether it's on stage or in the booth. So, it was an interesting choice when he chose two basketball greats to be his comparison.

“When I think of what basketball player would represent me as a rapper, I be going between D Wade and Barkley… D Wade had a lot of success too but you know sometimes I feel like even D Wade doesn’t get all the love, but then he also transitioned into other stuff and that’s kind of been my career to an extent,” he said.

Common has released some great music throughout the 2000s. His most prominent work was Be (2005) where he had John Legend and Kanye West as the features for ‘They Say.' Another great album he dropped was Like Water for Chocolate. This drop had CeeLo Green, Bilal, and Mos Def among other great features.

“But then I feel like Barkley was the dude that might not have ever won a championship, but he was the dude. That man was an incredible player, one of the Top 75 at the same token, what he’s done outside of basketball, I mean people know Barkley everywhere,” he added.

The legendary rapper has also impacted the world around him after no longer releasing music. He won an Emmy, Oscar, and Grammy already but he still strived for more. This effort notched him the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award.