Draymond Green explains why prime Carmelo Anthony was a better scorer than prime Kevin Durant

By Jonathan Sherman
Updated: August 11, 2022

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green hosts a very interesting and entertaining podcast for NBA fans these days.

Not only is Green one of the more candid and outspoken personalities in sports, but he also has access to his own genius-level basketball IQ.

In each episode, the show offers a unique and honest insight into what it’s like to be an NBA star.

In the most recent episode, Green offered an interesting take while comparing two of the best scorers in recent memory, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. According to Green, Anthony in his prime was a better scorer than Durant during his own prime.

Green’s reasoning was quite interesting.

“I’m going to go with Melo,” Green said after about a minute of trying to contend with the truly difficult question. “And the reason I’m gonna go with Melo is because I grew up watching Melo score the basketball. … Melo came to the league in ’03. I was 13 years old. I grew up watching Melo get a bucket however you wanted.”

Green then went into a story from early in his career when he was facing off against Anthony. The 10-time All-Star failed to score during one offensive possession and claimed that Green fouled him. However, no whistle blew. On the ensuing possession for Anthony, he tried to get to the basket using the same exact move and “made the referee call the foul.”

Green explained that Anthony knowing to get to the charity stripe to get out of a shooting slump showed his intelligence as well as his talent. Throughout his career, Anthony has averaged 22.5 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

In the end, however, Green did admit that there is no wrong answer in choosing between Durant and Anthony.