Carmelo Anthony Gives His Take on Michael Jordan vs LeBron James Debate, ‘The Last Dance’ Revelations

What does Carmelo Anthony think about the Michael Jordan vs LeBron James debate?

Melo watched “The Last Dance” docuseries on Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls. He also followed some of the discussions following each episode. If you ask him, Melo will say that player comparisons are not his thing.

“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,” he told 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?”

Although he didn’t want to take part in the debate, Anthony said that Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. He did mention LeBron’s accomplishment though.

“You know, M.J. is the GOAT. 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?” Anthony said. “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.”

The Jordan vs LeBron debate won’t end here

Melo has a great relationship with MJ and he joined the Jordan Brand in 2003. He also knows LeBron, and they have been playing together since high school. Melo says it’s hard to compare the Bulls legend and LeBron because they’re “two totally different players.”

He really liked the documentary because it helps younger fans become aware of the power Jordan had during his time in the NBA.

“I think it’s surprising to people because they never knew who he was as a person — they never knew what type of person he was. Everything was just, ‘M.J. the great. M.J. the GOAT. Basketball God. Black Jesus. Black Cat.’ That’s what they knew. But they didn’t know who he was,” Anthony told CBS Sports. “It was a myth. He was a mythical person, like a mythical creature. Nobody understood who he was or what he was. I think seeing him kind of take the lid off the pot and having the chance to kind of just tell his story and people can hear his passion — what he’s into, what he’s not, and how he operates on the day-to-day, his mentality. Most people loved it. Some people were very surprised. And then there were people who hated it, because a lot of times people hate the actual truth.”

Melo explained that people judged Jordan without even trying to understand him. This made him think of himself. People portrayed him in a negative light in his career.

“It hit home, but then you also understand that at the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do if somebody wants to put a negative narrative out there about you,” Anthony said. “There’s really nothing you can do, so what I’ve learned over the years is, whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. Whatever people are gonna say, people are gonna say. Just don’t give them anything to talk about. You’re doing your job and working hard. If you know you’re putting your all into it, anything somebody else says doesn’t even matter to you.”