Carmelo Anthony has had it with the endless Michael Jordan-LeBron James comparisons. The Portland Trail Blazers forward has had a shoe contract with Jordan Brand since he came into the NBA and has been friends with James since they tested their mettle as high school students.
Yet the veteran NBA scorer didn't take sides in this heated conversation, rather choosing to appreciate both for their own greatness:
“I don't like it. And I say that because whenever we do that, we fail to appreciate what we have in front of us,” Anthony told Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports. “Any time these comparisons are made, whether it's anybody — old school versus new school — it's like, why can't we just appreciate everybody for what they bring to the game?”
Anthony did, however, agree with the consensus that Jordan is the greatest NBA player of all time. Still, Melo thinks it shouldn't take away from all that James has accomplished in his career:
“You know, M.J. is the G.O.A.T. He's the greatest ever. We all know that and we all agree to that. Why can't we say that, but also give LeBron his flowers while he's here too?” said Anthony. “Why can't we say, ‘M.J. was very great, LeBron is very great, Kobe is very great.' We're not allowed to say those things today, because it's always this or that, and that's just our society — you have to choose one.”
Jordan has the story to go with the six rings, while LeBron James will likely walk away with the statistical advantage, having already played more games than Jordan and on track to rack up unprecedented stats
Anthony knows Jordan is the greatest player to walk the NBA hardwood, but he hopes that won't take away from his friend's greatness at the end of the day.
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