Carmelo Anthony is third in the league in scoring (28.2 PPG) and is carrying his team on his back.
Last night Melo poured in 42 points in capturing game one of the Nuggets' first round playoff series against the Utah Jazz. If this was LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Kobe Bryant it would be front page news on ESPN.com. However for some reason Anthony seems to be snubbed in the news consistently.
Right now there are young players making a name for themselves as rising superstars in this league. Kevin Durant is the main name that comes to mind, the reigning scoring champion enjoyed a break out season this year and propelled himself into the "Best player in the league discussion," although I still think he's a ways away from that distinction. My question is, why is Durant in the discussion but not Anthony? Because Durant averages 2 more points per game? That makes no sense. Anthony is the star player on one of the best teams in the league and his team looks poised to make a deep run into the playoffs. In fact, the Nuggets are my pick to emerge from the insanely competitive western conference.
To me a superstar is someone who carries his team and who can take over in crunch time. The accepted superstars in todays game are LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams Chris Paul (although his stock is dropping fast), and Kevin Durant, with Derrick Rose starting to make a bid for his place on that list.
For some reason Melo seems to be snubbed in this conversation every time.
Make no mistake about it, Carmelo Anthony is a superstar in this league. He makes big shots and he commands the attention of every defense the Nuggets go up against. I would take Melo over Durant, Kobe (given his recent shooting struggles), Paul, Williams, and Wade. All without hesitation. If you think I'm crazy then pay attention. Anthony put up 42 last night and this is no rare occurance. What happens when Melo goes up against another premier player? He wins.
When the Nuggets went into Cleveland on February 18th the Cavs were riding a 13 game winning streak Melo went off for 40 and out-dueled LeBron James in overtime for the victory. That's what a superstar does and that's who Carmelo Anthony is. That's just one example. Watch the Nuggets closely in the playoffs and I'm sure you'll come to agree too.
