Carmelo Anthony, NY Knicks. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NY Knicks: These two made their bones on the offensive side of the floor
You can still see the vestiges of Carmelo Anthony’s offensive game as he puts up 12-point nights in Portland, only in New York he was stronger, faster, and the focal point of perhaps the last great triangle offense in the modern NBA.
Part of why Melo had such a rough adjustment to the modern style of motion and threes is because his greatest strengths scoring came in more antique parts of the court. Never an outstanding playmaker, Carmelo Anthony was most effective facing up from the high post and in the mid-range. Yes, he could get hot from three, but it wasn’t always reliable.
Carmelo’s face game was second to none during his time in New York. His low center of gravity allowed him to body small wings and muscle by them, and his craftiness and the deceptively quick first step would torch slower forwards.
His mid-range game forced guys to play him honest from the high post and he could hit that mid-range jumper off of hesitations and falling away off either shoulder. He had such a quick and natural release on his jump shot that the second his defender backed off on that signature jab-step he was already pulling up and away before his guy could contest.
Carmelo was deadly from that area of the floor, the problem was the stagnation that came with that scoring style. Never known for his passing and not one to fly up and down the court either, Carmelo Anthony’s high-post game would translate to a slower pace and lack of ball movement that made his offensive talents singular rather than benefiting the whole team.
On top of that, that mid-range/high-post/iso style in which he excelled can be taken out with a smart team defense or a double. He can hit those tough shots, but they’re not the most efficient.
So what was Carmelo Anthony’s offensive game? The last great vestige of an antique style. There’s a reason he’s a role player now, he couldn’t translate his talents to the modern game, but at his apex he lead the league in points. Not too shabby.
NY Knicks: At his best, Bernard King was unstoppable…
Similarly, Bernard King’s most valuable offensive weapon was his mid-range game. A two-motion jump shot that focused more on shooting over his defender than getting the ball off quickly, King’s peers have one word for his scoring repertoire: unstoppable.
Magic Johnson remembers a Friday night match when the Lakers played the Knicks in 1984.
“We knew he was going to that spot, the 18,000 fans knew he was going to that spot, nobody could do anything with this man.”
King’s offensive game was all about hitting shots over top of his defender. His high-post game was more back to the basket than Melo’s was, but he still had the jumper off of either shoulder, and the quickness to blow by his defenders.
He’d turn and shoot, or else feel his man riding his hip, show the ball one way, and then spin the other way for the uncontested leaner.
He didn’t have the longest prime, but at his best, he was simply unguardable. Only twelve players have ever surpassed his PPG average in 1984-85 (32.9 a game).
Celtics’ Hall of Famer Kevin McHale remembers:
“…and I said to Hubie, damn, can’t you run a play that isn’t for Bernard? Because he was just killing us over and over.”
King was more of a natural athlete than Melo. His scoring on the fast break was put on full display during his college years and then again with the Knicks. His signature move on the break was a two-handed breakaway dunk. He would take two long-legged strides toward the basket and then, with both arms extended like a trapeze artist, King would lean forward and slam the ball home.
Both men were score-first guys, but there are two key differences between them:
Carmelo Anthony was the best player on his team, but his offensive repertoire often held his teammates hostage. He couldn’t make them better, and often made them worse, despite his overwhelming output of points.
King on the other hand was able to work within the margins of the offense better. He was still far and away the primary scoring option for his squad, and actually led the league in usage rate in 1984, but it was only because he had such a weak team backing him up. If he was playing with an all-star big like Amar’e Stoudemire or a 6MOTY like J.R. Smith, you can bet he would have gotten them involved more than Melo did.
Bernard King’s ball hogging was out of necessity, Melo’s was more of a personal decision.
Winner: Bernard King
Knicks in which he averaged a strong 27 points a game on 54% shooting and led a criminally bad supporting cast to two second round playoff series.</p>
<p>When thinking about the great players in Knicks history, King’s shared position on the court, powerful scoring ability, and wider approach to the game can’t help but be remind us of another score-first small forward who wore the blue and orange. Another guy who was born in New York, developed a reputation as a mid-range assassin, and led the Knicks to playoff victories. The kids might know him as the backup PF on the Portland Trail Blazers, but we in New York know him as Carmelo Anthony.</p>
<p><a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"https://dailyknicks.com/2015/10/20/new-york-knicks-25-greatest-players-of-all-time/">Melo and King each have starkly different basketball stories</a>, but their profiles on paper and the way they play the game are eerily reminiscent of one another. Let’s compare the two, explore who was the better player, who was the better Knick, and who will go down as the starting SF on New York’s all-time squad.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Awards and Accolades </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-119420" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F166102338.jpeg" alt="NY Knicks" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/166102338.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/166102338-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Bernard King, NY Knicks. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)</p>
</div>
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<h2>NY Knicks: Who was the more decorated player?</h2>
<p>Rarely does someone had a more decorated amateur career than Carmelo Anthony.</p>
<p>Before he even stepped on the NBA floor Melo was the #1 recruit in his high school graduating class, a McDonald’s All-American, an NCAA College Basketball Final Four Most Outstanding Player of the Year, and a March Madness tournament champ with The University of Syracuse.</p>
<p>He was picked 3rd by the Denver Nuggets in the 2003 NBA Draft and went on to make the all-rookie team. From there he remained one of the league’s premier scorers, making 10 all-star teams and 6 All-NBA teams for his career.</p>
<p>It was with the Denver Nuggets that Melo became a star, but it was with New York that he had his peak years. Joining the Knicks in 2011, Melo made the all-star list every year he spent in the Big Apple. From 2011 to 2017 Anthony averaged 25 points and 7 rebounds a game while being the fulcrum of one of the top contending teams in the East.</p>
<p>He never won a title, he never made a Finals, but for over a decade Carmelo Anthony was considered to be one of the 10 best basketball players in the world. A scoring machine who was always just on the cusp of winning big. Only it never happened. Still, Melo has had one of the more picturesque basketball careers of anyone to play the game. The word ‘complete’ comes to mind.</p>
<p>If Carmelo Anthony’s career serves as a model for what a star scorer should be, Bernard King’s is a little more complicated.</p>
<p>A streetball legend growing up in Brooklyn, King was a top recruit at the University of Tennessee where he spent three years. In college, King carried on from the blacktop to the hardwood, averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds shooting a staggering 59% from the field over his collegiate career. These lofty stats and team success alongside his fellow NBA prospect Ernie Grunfeld catapulted King to be drafted 7th by the New Jersey Nets in 1977.</p>
<p>It was during those early years in the NBA that Bernard King’s career took a dark turn. Battling alcohol and drug abuse problems for his first few seasons and bouncing around between the Nets, Jazz, and Warriors, King eventually hit rock bottom in 1980 and checked himself into rehab.</p>
<p>After that, the transformation was startling. King made his first all-star team in 1981 and in 1982, signed a five-year 4.3 million dollar contract with the Knicks. It’s in New York that King played his prime years, making multiple all-star teams and carrying an abysmal supporting cast past far superior teams in the playoffs.</p>
<p>So who was the more decorated player? Let’s preface by saying that we’re only looking at these guy’s time with the Knicks…</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline"><em><strong>Carmelo Anthony</strong></em></span></p>
<ul>
<li>7 seasons with the Knicks (2010-17)</li>
<li>7x all-star</li>
<li>3x All-NBA (two 2nd teams, one 3rd)</li>
<li>2012-13 scoring champion (28.7 PPG)</li>
</ul>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline"><em><strong>Bernard King</strong></em></span></p>
<ul>
<li>4 seasons with the Knicks (1982-87)</li>
<li>2x all-star</li>
<li>3x All-NBA (two 1st teams, one second)</li>
<li>1984-85 scoring champion (32.9 PPG)</li>
</ul>
<p>They have remarkably similar resumes, but here’s the difference when comparing their awards history:</p>
<p>Bernard King’s peak was higher than Melo’s. He averaged more points per game in his strongest season and those two 1st team All-NBA selections are really telling. They are a certificate that says “this man was one of the five best basketball players in the world this year”.</p>
<p>King was selected to the first team in 1984 and 85, beating out Adrian Dantley, Dr. J, Alex English, James Worthy, Kevin McHale, Dominique Wilkins, Ralph Sampson, Charles Barkley and all the other great forwards of the 80s. At his peak, Bernard King was the best forward in the world after Larry Bird, and that’s saying a lot.</p>
<p>Carmelo Anthony never reached those same heights, but his body of work is also bigger and more complete. Just look at the quantity for Anthony compared to King. It’s true that Melo never shone as bright, but he shone for longer. That has to be taken into account.</p>
<p>When we’re comparing the accolades, 7 all-star teams in as many years says something about Carmelo’s contributions to the Knicks and the league during that time. We gotta give him the nod in this category.</p>
<p><strong>Winner: Carmelo Anthony</strong></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Offense </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-110346 size-full" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1095,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F07%2F661967898.jpeg" alt="NY Knicks" width="1600" height="1095" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/661967898.jpeg 1600w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/661967898-768x526.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Carmelo Anthony, NY Knicks. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)</p>
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</div>
<h2>NY Knicks: These two made their bones on the offensive side of the floor</h2>
<p>You can still see the vestiges of Carmelo Anthony’s offensive game as he puts up 12-point nights in Portland, only in New York he was stronger, faster, and the focal point of perhaps the last great triangle offense in the modern NBA.</p>
<p>Part of why Melo had such a rough adjustment to the modern style of motion and threes is because his greatest strengths scoring came in more antique parts of the court. Never an outstanding playmaker, Carmelo Anthony was most effective facing up from the high post and in the mid-range. Yes, he could get hot from three, but it wasn’t always reliable.</p>
<p>Carmelo’s face game was second to none during his time in New York. His low center of gravity allowed him to body small wings and muscle by them, and his craftiness and the deceptively quick first step would torch slower forwards.</p>
<p>His mid-range game forced guys to play him honest from the high post and he could hit that mid-range jumper off of hesitations and falling away off either shoulder. He had such a quick and natural release on his jump shot that the second his defender backed off on that signature jab-step he was already pulling up and away before his guy could contest.</p>
<p>Carmelo was deadly from that area of the floor, the problem was the stagnation that came with that scoring style. Never known for his passing and not one to fly up and down the court either, Carmelo Anthony’s high-post game would translate to a slower pace and lack of ball movement that made his offensive talents singular rather than benefiting the whole team.</p>
<p>On top of that, that mid-range/high-post/iso style in which he excelled can be taken out with a smart team defense or a double. He can hit those tough shots, but they’re not the most efficient.</p>
<p>So what was Carmelo Anthony’s offensive game? The last great vestige of an antique style. There’s a reason he’s a role player now, he couldn’t translate his talents to the modern game, but at his apex he lead the league in points. Not too shabby.</p>
<h2>NY Knicks: At his best, Bernard King was unstoppable…</h2>
<p>Similarly, Bernard King’s most valuable offensive weapon was his mid-range game. A two-motion jump shot that focused more on shooting over his defender than getting the ball off quickly, King’s peers have one word for his scoring repertoire: unstoppable.</p>
<p>Magic Johnson remembers a Friday night match when the Lakers played the Knicks in 1984.</p>
<blockquote class="left ampstart-left">“We knew he was going to that spot, the 18,000 fans knew he was going to that spot, nobody could do anything with this man.”
<p></p></blockquote>
<p>King’s offensive game was all about hitting shots over top of his defender. His high-post game was more back to the basket than Melo’s was, but he still had the jumper off of either shoulder, and the quickness to blow by his defenders.</p>
<p>He’d turn and shoot, or else feel his man riding his hip, show the ball one way, and then spin the other way for the uncontested leaner.</p>
<p>He didn’t have the longest prime, but at his best, he was simply unguardable. Only twelve players have ever surpassed his PPG average in 1984-85 (32.9 a game).</p>
<p>Celtics’ Hall of Famer Kevin McHale remembers:</p>
<blockquote><p>“…and I said to Hubie, damn, can’t you run a play that isn’t for Bernard? Because he was just killing us over and over.”</p></blockquote>
<p>King was more of a natural athlete than Melo. His scoring on the fast break was put on full display during his college years and then again with the Knicks. His signature move on the break was a two-handed breakaway dunk. He would take two long-legged strides toward the basket and then, with both arms extended like a trapeze artist, King would lean forward and slam the ball home.</p>
<p>Both men were score-first guys, but there are two key differences between them:</p>
<p>Carmelo Anthony was the best player on his team, but his offensive repertoire often held his teammates hostage. He couldn’t make them better, and often made them worse, despite his overwhelming output of points.</p>
<p>King on the other hand was able to work within the margins of the offense better. He was still far and away the primary scoring option for his squad, and actually led the league in usage rate in 1984, but it was only because he had such a weak team backing him up. If he was playing with an all-star big like Amar’e Stoudemire or a 6MOTY like J.R. Smith, you can bet he would have gotten them involved more than Melo did.</p>
<p>Bernard King’s ball hogging was out of necessity, Melo’s was more of a personal decision.</p>
<p><strong>Winner: Bernard King</strong></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Team Success </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119419 size-full" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F168908191.jpeg" alt="NY Knicks" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/168908191.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/168908191-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Carmelo Anthony, NY Knicks. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>NY Knicks: Carmelo Anthony couldn’t carry the team far</h2>
<p>Neither of these guys ever won a ring, they never made the finals, they never even made the conference finals during their time in New York.</p>
<p>Carmelo’s NY Knicks had the misfortune of overlapping with the Heatles. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh’s Miami Heat. Defeating that team during their heyday would have been a tall order, but add a couple of unfortunate injuries to the Knick’s mix and any chance of getting out of the East evaporated like smoke. He missed the playoffs entirely from 2014-17.</p>
<p>Having LeBron James as a lifelong rival is one of the crueler jokes of Carmelo Anthony’s career. That despite being a perennial All-Star and first-ballot Hall of Famer, he will forever pale in comparison to the legend that is LeBron. Still, Melo could have put up more of a fight in the postseason.</p>
<p>His NY Knicks teams were marketed as instant contenders. The savior of New York! The return of the Knicks! While in reality they made the playoffs thrice and won a series once. Swept in 2011 by the Garnett Celtics, then in 2012 were spanked by LeBron’s Heat, then in 2013 losing in the second round to Paul George’s Pacers.</p>
<p>Yes, Carmelo’s 2nd man Amar’e Stoudemire was a walking knee injury, and his inability to stay healthy was a constant threat to the NY Knicks’ deep playoff hopes, but really Melo’s teams just lost. Simple as that.</p>
<p>Anthony’s personal playoff stats are solid. The raw numbers are what pop out at you, 28 points and 8 rebounds for his Knicks playoff career including a gallant 42-piece in 2011, but the totals can be deceiving. The turd in the Melo playoff punchbowl is his 40.4% from the field and 29.7% from three on 25 shots a game.</p>
<p>Melo always carried himself like he was the best guy on the floor, when he was hitting it was awesome, but he couldn’t shift gears when his shots weren’t falling.</p>
<h2>NY Knicks: Bernard King had even less help…</h2>
<p>During his four seasons with the NY Knicks, Bernard King made the playoffs twice, going to the second round each time. That’s already better than Carmelo’s 3 postseasons in 7 years.</p>
<p>You could argue that those later years can’t be counted against Melo because of the weak roster around him, but that didn’t stop King. I know I’ve mentioned a few times how bad Bernard King’s supporting cast was for those mid-80s playoff runs, but let’s go a little more in-depth on who was flanking this guy.</p>
<p>Over his four seasons with the Knicks, King’s best teammates were Bill Cartwright, Pat Cummings, Ray Williams, and a way-too-young Patrick Ewing. He never had a co-all star in New York, he never played with another 18+ point scorer, he never played with a bag of chips, and yet King still carried his teams to the first round and beyond.</p>
<p>Where Carmelo Anthony’s efficiency slipped in the playoffs, Bernard King’s only improved. In 1983 King overcame a New Jersey Nets team featuring All-Stars Otis Birdsong, Michael Ray Richardson, and Buck Williams. King would average 29 points a game in that series shooting 62% from the field. He also had a solid second round (21 points per on 54% shooting) but lost to the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers (a team Moses Malone and Dr. J).</p>
<p>1984 King had an even more impressive playoff run. Coming up against a younger iteration of the bad boy Pistons, featuring an already formidable point guard named Isiah Thomas, King played out of his mind. Averaging 43 points a game (yes, 43) with 8 rebounds, shooting 60.4% from the field over the course of a 3-2, best of five series.</p>
<p>King went on to lose in 7 games to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. Again averaging huge point totals on crazy efficiency. Again, he brought a 62-win eventual title team featuring 4 Hall of Famers and a prime Larry Bird to a game 7 while being flanked by Bill Cartwright and Ray Williams.</p>
<p>Beat that Melo.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> And the winner is... </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119420 size-full" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F166102338.jpeg" alt="NY Knicks" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/166102338.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/166102338-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Bernard King, NY Knicks. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)</p>
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<h2>NY Knicks: The final verdict</h2>
<p>Again, this is just these player’s time with the Knicks.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p><strong>Stats</strong></p>
<p>In King’s time with the team he averaged 27 points, 3 assists, and 5 rebounds, shooting 54% from the field. Melo averaged 25 points, 3 assists, and 7 rebounds, shooting 44% from the field.</p>
<p>Edge: King</p>
<p><strong>Endurance</strong></p>
<p>Bernard King tore his ACL in 1985 and missed the whole season. While he would go on to play six more seasons in the NBA and make All-Star teams he never reached the same level of dominance he had in the first half of the 80s. Carmelo played 7 years in New York, led the league in minutes in 2014, and frequently notched seasons where he played over 70 games.</p>
<p>The biggest flaw in Bernard King’s resume is how quickly his starlight burned out.</p>
<p>Edge: Melo</p>
<p><strong>Defense</strong></p>
<p>They were both pretty meh. Not great, not terrible. King was a little more athletic and averaged more steals, Melo was stronger and could switch onto more forwards. Moving on.</p>
<p>Edge: Nobody</p>
<p><strong>Playoff Success</strong></p>
<p>Bernard King played with zero all-stars, zero award winners won two playoff series in four years, averaged 31.0 on 57% in the playoffs, and took a legendary Celtics team to a game 7.</p>
<p>Carmelo Anthony played with two All-Stars (Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire), a Defensive Player of the Year (Chandler), a Sixth Man of the Year (J.R. Smith), two 18-PPG scorers (Derrick Rose and Kristaps Porzingis), and three weeks of Linsanity.</p>
<p>With them, he won 1 playoff series in a 7-year tenure.</p>
<p><strong>Resonance</strong></p>
<p>Both New York guys in one manner or another. King’s upbringing on the blacktop of Brooklyn runs deeper than even Carmelo’s title at Syracuse. Melo was loved by NY Knicks fans but endured almost as many boos in his time in the garden as cheers.</p>
<p>The fans knew that they were never going to reach the promised land with Melo in the driver’s seat. He was loved yes, but there was always this undercurrent of mistrust. Maybe it had more to do with Jimmy Dolan than Carmelo, but the feeling was tainted, and then he left for OKC.</p>
<p>With King it was different. You could just tell by the way he carried himself and in interviews from that era, there was nowhere else he’d rather be than New York City.</p>
<p>The way he was marketed as the league was first taking off, his station as the star of NYC back when the difference between that city and any other was more pronounced than ever, even his last name being ‘King’, it was all sort of this perfect storm, if for a brief period.</p>
<p>His style, his scoring dominance, those breakaway two-handed slams, it was loved. He was loved. Melo was never loved like that.</p>
<p>Edge: King</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><em><strong>The Final Verdict: Bernard King</strong></em></p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Knicks Mock Draft 2.0: Trading up in the draft" data-url="https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/06/2021-nba-draft-mock-draft-2-knicks/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/24/ny-knicks-better-small-forward-bernard-king-carmelo-anthony/3/"https://dailyknicks.com/2021/06/06/2021-nba-draft-mock-draft-2-knicks/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Knicks Mock Draft 2.0: Trading up in the draft </a> </div>
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