Stephon Marbury, an avid New Yorker looking for a return to the NBA and derivatively a basketball fan, still holds Carmelo Anthony in high regard.

The New York Knicks star forward has gone through a couple of rough seasons with the team, ranging from injuries to playing with loose pieces to a puzzle that didn't even have finality of an offensive or defensive system. Anthony was forced to take bad shots, which have taken down his efficiency tremendously during the course of the last two seasons.

Most recently, the Sports Illustrated rankings had him rated as the 37th best basketball player coming into this 2017-18 season, while ESPN had him ranked an all-time low 64th, among the likes of Marcus Smart.

Asked to choose between the Knicks' unicorn Kristaps Porzingis and Melo as the best player in the Big Apple, Marbury didn't hesitate to declare Anthony the clear leader of the team.

Via Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated:

Lundberg: “Melo or Porzingis: Best player on the Knicks right now?”

Marbury: “C'mon man. You serious?… Carmelo Anthony is one of the best players in the NBA.”

Lundberg: “Here at SI, he was ranked in the 30s. I saw ESPN had him in the 60s. There's an argument out there that Carmelo Anthony is below Kristaps Porzingis. Where would you rank Carmelo Anthony in the NBA right now?”

Marbury: “I mean he's one of the top 20 players in the NBA by far. It's not even close.”

While the jury is still out on just how high or low Carmelo Anthony really is in the top 100, most players — going by the eye test, declare him as one of the very best talents in the league.

Judging by his track record in the NBA, only three other players have scored 20 or more points in every season of their careers.