Over the weekend, NBA legend Carmelo Anthony was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Establishing his place in history among the greatest of the great.

Naturally, players are often asked who would be their starting five. Most of the time the names of Michael Jordan and LeBron James are mentioned with frequency, but not for Melo.

In fact, those two were conventionally left off of his starting five, per Fantatics.

For Melo, his starting five consists of Derrick Rose, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, and Shaquille O'Neal.

This isn't the first time that Melo has not included either Jordan or James. Last August, he excluded Jordan from his starting five for Team USA.

However, Melo did include James as well as himself, Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, and Kevin Durant.

Nevertheless, Melo has given credit to Jordan to helping to develop him into a premiere NBA talent. Additionally, he was signed to the Jordan Brand in 2003 after coming out of Syracuse.

Also, Melo became the first NBA player to have his own Jordan Brand shoe, the Jordan Melo 1.5.

Article Continues Below

Plus, Melo and LeBron James go way back. In 2003, James entered into the NBA straight out of high school with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That same year, Melo began his pro career.

They went on a mutual journey together that included being part of the 2008 Redeem Team that brought the Olympic gold back to America.

The Redeem Team was inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend.

The “Starting Five” is subjective

Essentially, the never-ending GOAT debates and who's the ideal starting five is purely subjective.

Everyone has different choices and different conclusions. That's what makes the discussions both enjoyable and enduring at the same time.

In the case of Melo, he played with the best of his era. So naturally, that is where his allegiances will be.