Carmelo Anthony Says Jokic, Kyrie Are Most Skilled Players In NBA

Carmelo Anthony is giving props to Kyrie Irving and Nikola Jokic for being two of the most skilled players in the NBA.

In an interview with Complex's Zion Olojede, Melo explained the difference between the most skilled NBA players and the league's best players, before mentioning Kyrie and Jokic as two stars who are atop the former group.

"There are skilled guys in the NBA that are not the best players," Melo said. "There's a big difference. Kyrie may be the most skilled player in the NBA. Him and Jokic."

Melo continued by describing the different expectations that come with being "the best player."

"Speaking on Kyrie, a lot of people may say he's not the best player but he's the most skilled," Anthony shared. "The best player comes with different things. You know what I'm saying? There's a lot of that comes with being the best player in the NBA. You got to be one out of 400. Like you put that in perspective. and that's very hard, very difficult."

Elsewhere in his interview with Complex, Melo, who retired in May, shed light on what he plans to focus on during his post-retirement career.

"To be honest with you, I don't know," he said. "I'm doing things that align with what I like to do and with my message and my brain and work. I don't have it figured out. It's just I know what makes sense. I'm very intentional with who I work with and what I do and creatively what I do. I just came from playing ball for 20 years, you know what I'm saying? So, I don't know what's next. I'm into wine, I'm into fashion. I'm into a whole bunch of things."

Melo announced his retirement this past spring after 19 seasons in the NBA. The 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection spent the bulk of his time with the Denver Nuggets (2003-11) and New York Knicks (2011-17), before ending his career with short stints in Oklahoma City (2017-18), Houston (2018-19), Portland (2019-21), and Los Angeles (2021-22).