There have been legendary scoring leaders, and Melo is among the most unique scorers. It is rare to see someone argue that. The 6’7″ former NBA star’s height and versatile playing style allowed him to be phenomenal on the court. In his rookie season, Melo led all rookies in scoring with 21 points per game. No wonder he is the ninth-leading scorer in NBA history. He is so good that a former Warriors star didn’t hesitate to place the Knicks legend above Michael Jordan!

Yes, that’s what you read. Agent Zero has battled Melo before and is well aware of what the basketball legend brings to the team. During his YouTube live, Gilbert Arenas was asked to choose between a prime T-Mac (Tracy McGrady) and Melo. While he chose the former as both are related to Adidas, Arenas seemed hesitant regarding a one-on-one between the two. He feared that the Knicks legend might have a better chance.

This is when he went on to claim that Melo, who shot 44.7% from the field, might even have had better chances playing against Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan because of his unique playing style. While the Chicago Bulls legend had a shooting percentage of 49.7% in his career, Bryant shot 44.7% from the field.

“Like Melo is one of those type of players, man…where I don’t care who you put him up against. You can put him up against Kobe, Jordan in that one-on-one. He probably has the best chance of winning because how he played. He likes the pressure. He plays bully basketball and he steals,” Arenas said.

But was it bold on Arenas’ part to claim that Melo could have beaten Jordan or Kobe in scoring? Regardless, this certainly goes against what Michael Jordan has claimed. MJ has often claimed that no one could beat him in one-on-one matchups. 

Gilbert Arenas crowns Carmelo Anthony with big praise

While naming a list of different players that he wished he could play against, MJ mentioned Carmelo Anthony. But he claimed that the only person who could beat him would be Bryant. And most importantly, it was always the short players that Jordan had trouble playing against. The New York Knicks legend is nowhere close to being called short.

Even MJ’s teammates and players who have gone up against him in one-on-one matchups have made similar claims. This isn’t the first time Gilbert Arenas has praised the basketball star Melo’s scoring.

Arenas once placed Anthony over Kevin Durant, who boasts four NBA scoring titles to his name. KD’s total career points had already surpassed Melo’s 28,289 points. However, Arenas had an explanation for his choice. He said, “You would go Melo because he had 4-level, 5-level scoring… there’s posting up and iso player.” Melo was part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. During his 19-year career, the Knicks legend has averaged 22.5 points per game.

Agreeing with Arenas was another member on Gil’s Arena, Kenyon Martin. He said, “One of the best scorers that this game so far has seen…He just perfected that fu**ing jab step, and you got to respect it or he going by you.” There might be several explanations but a matchup against the scoring greats regardless of who wins will be intriguing!