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Harris Beringer compares the self-promoting tactics of Pierce and Anthony. Are these examples of confidence or conceit?

Paul Pierce vs. Carmelo Anthony: Whose Self-Promotion Is More Justified?

by Harris Beringer (Analyst)

6

686 reads

Editorial

August 27, 2008

NBA, Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony , Editorial

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit NBA Gauntlet to participate in this post's poll.

The Truth vs. Melo

In this battle we have the self-proclaimed “best player in the world” up against the versatile young snitch-hater.

When Paul Pierce was interviewed by the Spanish newspaper Marca, he revealed that he thinks he is the best player in the world. He attributes this statement to confidence, not conceit.

He also said that LeBron is the most difficult player to defend, Magic Johnson is one of his idols, and his teammates are his favorite players.

In response to a question, he said that Gilbert Arenas is better than Jose Calderon because Calderon has room for improvement, but Arenas is already a superstar. Those years in Spanish class really paid off.

Carmelo has among the most egomaniac websites around, carmeloanthony.com. He enjoys photography and blogging, and recently he took some decent photos, so it’s fair that he was published in the

  • B/R Ticket Guide
NY Times. To be honest, I would be doing the same things if I were in his position.

Last year, Pierce and Anthony were both voted All-NBA (third), and they have had comparable PER and scoring numbers over the past few years. Let’s see the argument for each:

 

Paul Pierce: 19.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.5 APG

  • Pierce won a ring with the Celtics in 2007-2008.
  • The Celtics were terrible when he missed 2006-2007 with an injury.
  • He returned from a critical stabbing injury early in his career.
  • He managed to play with Antoine Walker.
  • He has been a much more accomplished passer, despite playing on some lousy teams.
  • Pierce is a better three-point shooter and gets to the line more often than Carmelo.

 

Carmelo Anthony: 25.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.4 APG

  • He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.
  • Melo had the fifth most popular jersey last year, while Pierce’s jersey was 13th most popular.
  • He greatly improved his rebounding last year, and had a career high in field goal percentage.
  • Ranked one spot higher in MVP voting last year.
  • He only needed one year of college, and he won the NCAA tournament that year.

 

So, which All-Star is more justified in his self-promotion?

 

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comments (6) write a comment »

  1. Replace PP with Melo on that Celtic squad and they would have been even more dominant. Paul enjoyed the luxury of having the best shooter in the NBA as well as the best all around post player. He saw very few double teams. It's hardly a fair comparison.

  2. I honestly laughed when I read that he said he's the best in the world. PP is no where near the best, so just because he won a ring now he's the best? Lebron? Kobe? Iverson?Wade?, yea Iverson doesn't have the ring but he's ranked 3rd in NBA history only behind Wilt and Jordan and he's only 6 feet tall. PP is a Joke, he's a good player but he just has the big head

  3. error:Iverson or Lebron

  4. when you are a top player in the league you are supposed to think you're the best. All the stuff he's been through and outplaying good players throughout his career i would feel the same way. Why would he say another player is the best. In any profession you're in you are supposed to think you're the best. A lot of players feel this way but only a few have the courage to say it. I don't feel these comments are controversial. Even LeBron and Kobe said he was one of the hardest players to guard in the league. he didn't disrespect them like saying they sucked or something like that he just felt he was better. He does shoot a higher 3 point and free throw percentage than LeBron and a higher 3 point percentage than Kobe. Melo hasen't even been out the first round and his defense isn't as good as Pierce. Pierce has more desire than melo diving on the ground for loose balls you never see melo doing that. To start a team I would take Pierce over Melo. Melo has been with great players and before this year always had a better team than Pierce. You can't do anything on offense to stop Pierce but with wade and lebron you can force them to shoot and get physical with kobe and that throws them off. You can't do none of that with Pierce

  5. word up, Jeff

  6. Paul Pierce is the best player in the world...PERIOD

    Not because he won a championship...because he is unstoppable

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About the Author Harris Beringer (analyst)

  • 14 articles written
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