 Now here's a video that I've been wanting to make for a while now. I actually forgot that I had this video saved up for my computer but I think it's a really interesting one. I want you right now to forget about how good LeBron and Carmelo are right now. Forget who's better, forget who's won the championships and bring yourself back to the 2003 NBA season where you didn't know who was going to be a better player. I will say that I agreed that the NBA gave it to the right player for the rookie of the year but I also think that Carmelo Anthony has an extremely strong case and I wouldn't be surprised that if after you watched this video some people may think that Carmelo Anthony actually should have won rookie of the year and beat LeBron James but it's up for debate. Let's get into it. I will admit that LeBron James is one of the top five players of all time. I could argue that he's top three or even top two but that doesn't cover up what he did in his rookie season which don't get me wrong it was amazing. He is amazing. One of the only three rookies in NBA history to average at least 20 points, five assists and five rebounds at that time. The only other two players at that time of 2003 was Oscar Roberson and Michael Jordan. He was an incredible player especially since all the hype was on him that year and he lived up to the name of the chosen one. He was a beast on the court however when he was awarded rookie of the year another player could have easily taken it from him. Carmelo Anthony. Okay now let's compare the two players in their rookie seasons obviously LeBron averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game that year becoming only the third rookie in NBA history to average a 25 and 5 line per basketball reference. Anthony meanwhile averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2.8 assists per game but had a higher field goal percentage and more win shares than LeBron James. He also helped guide Denver into the playoffs while Cleveland didn't make the 2004 postseason. To make it clearer to compare here is a side-by-side comparison between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony that season. As you can see LeBron he is a beast 25 and 5 more of an all-around player but Mellow win shares is higher, field goal is higher, P.E.R is not as high obviously, assists we know Carmelo Anthony doesn't pass the ball. I guess the last couple of seasons he's improved with a terrible New York team apart from pretty much poor Zingers. Derek Rose is, I don't even know how Derek Rose is anymore like I can't even understand him I don't know what he is. He's a point guard but he can't shoot he sort of gets assists here and there. He's kind of still got athleticism but he doesn't even like dunk anymore. He's a weird player it'll be interesting to see what happens with Derek Rose but we're going off topic right now. I want to ask you who would you have chosen as the rookie of the year? Just by looking at the stats, Carmelo has LeBron in points, rebounds, field goal percentage and a higher win share which when you break it down is four out of the six categories. Now this is good and all but it still doesn't mean Carmelo Anthony should have won the year since it's not mentioning defense and well let's just say we all know who is better on that side of the floor. LeBron James will come along Anthony with defense yeah we don't really need a brain searching to figure that one out just if you watch a basketball game you know who's better but it still gives you a rough idea of how similar LeBron and Melo were and honestly Melo's offensive game was better at that time just by looking at these stats not by much but it was better. Now let's look at the actual wins between the two players because I always hear the argument that LeBron James had much worse players than Melo did and that his team was far worse than the NBA before LeBron got to Cleveland but when you actually break it down the year before they both got drafted in 2003 the Cavaliers and Nuggets both finished with exactly the same record a record of 17 and 65 keep in mind that the Nuggets did play in a stacked Western Conference that year and to give you an idea of how stacked that conference was the Pistons who were the first seed in the east would have tied fifth in the west but possibly even the seventh seed had they versed more Western Conference teams which that is crazy going from either the first seed in the east to either the fifth or seventh seed or sixth seed that is crazy but anyway back to my point the Nuggets and the Cavs both had a record of 17 and 65 before they drafted LeBron and Melo respectively those records changed the next season however the Nuggets rose from 17 wins to 43 wins and made the playoffs in a stacked Western Conference keep in mind whilst the Cavaliers went from 17 to 35 which is still a major improvement but they didn't make the playoffs so as LeBron James took the Cavaliers plus 18 wins that year for a 35 and 47 record but failed to make the playoffs in the week Eastern Conference Carmelo however became the second youngest player to score 30 points in a game since the ABA NBA merger the other player being Kobe Bryant Anthony was also third youngest to reach 1000 points but the impressive staff that most stood out was how Kamala Anthony led the Denver Nuggets who were tied for the worst record in the NBA the previous season to a 43 and 39 record this meant the Nuggets made the playoffs for the eighth seed in a very tough Western Conference with Minnesota Sacramento San Antonio the Lakers Dallas these these guys were really really good teams and the fact that Kamala Anthony led them to the playoffs comparing to what they had before previously that's a pretty good effort but in fact if you want to talk about players winning that year I still think the Duane Wave deserves recognition for taking Miami into the second round of the playoffs and finishing as the fourth seed in his rookie year but hey that's none of my business I guess I'm just salty that he's not in Miami anymore anyway this is pretty much where I want to ask you who do you think really should have won rookie of the year in 2004 in hindsight picking LeBron James for rookie of the year will look good when he makes it to the Hall of Fame but Kamala Anthony has his case as well and I just hoped this video I guess changes some people's opinion on Kamala Anthony because I know he cops a lot of criticism now and personally I love mellow I've always been a fan of mellow I loved him when he was in Denver that the cornrows man that was Kamala Anthony that was cool obviously when he went to New York they had a little bit of success not the amount of success that they wished they could have had but now he just cops criticism every single day and I wanted to make this video hopefully just sharing some insight on who you think should have won rookie of the year because Kamala Anthony seriously has a case the reason I said that at the start I'd still have LeBron James winning it is because LeBron had an all-around game even coming into the NBA as an 18-year-old he made his teammates better offensively but most importantly defensively as well which is where mellow kind of lacks another thing is LeBron was in a team with only boozer as solid help Kamala had an a Miller can be in a bunch of other veteran roleplayers so take that as you will I guess the team was a little bit better on Denver but in saying that mellow going from the worst record to the NBA to the playoffs is still a great effort also once again LeBron James was and still is a much more versatile player as he can play through one to four positions in the NBA which is crazy from point guard to power forward even if he played center he would do some work and he can give any player trouble which is why mellow didn't win rookie the year LeBron James did he's just a way more all-around player than Kamala Anthony who only really plays small fold and a little bit of power forward here and there which in the end is why LeBron James won plus if any voters had lingering doubts about the 2004 rookie of the year race LeBron James second season in the NBA would have silence critics everywhere from that point on Kamala Anthony would never come close to the throning LeBron James as the league's best small forward I mean even now we can clearly tell who the better player is but if you look at the 2003-04 season it is really close and that is what we're just looking at we are just looking at the rookie of the year in 2004 and I hope you guys enjoyed this video let me know who you think should have won rookie of the year and if you're new around here and you want to see more videos just like this one be sure to hit that subscribe button and if we can smash 3000 likes as well that would be amazing thanks for all your support and I'll catch you guys in my next video peace