Carmelo Anthony Slams Scottie Pippen Over Lakers' LeBron James Criticism

Carmelo Anthony and Scottie Pippen share many similarities.

Anthony is a future Hall of Famer while Pippen is in the Hall of Fame. Both were voted the top 75 players of all time in the latest NBA 75 rankings list, both were top-5 draft selections, and both enjoyed a stint on the Portland Trail Blazers towards the latter years of their careers.

They now find themselves at the point of controversy given Pippen's recent comments about former teammate Michael Jordan as well as a former teammate of Anthony's in LeBron James. Anthony's final NBA season came in the 2021-22 campaign playing 69 games with the Los Angeles Lakers and James.

More news: Lakers 'Highly' Interested in Acquiring $60M Star Center: Report

Pippen made many controversial statements on the 'Greatest of All Time' debate lately on the PBD Podcast. Despite playing with and winning six championships with Jordan, Pippen selected a different, non-LeBron James, NBA star as his choice.

“You can’t ask me who’s the GOAT between LeBron and Michael,” Pippen said. “Neither one of them are GOATS. They both won differently. You can’t put them at the top of the pinnacle. Magic Johnson to me is a bigger GOAT than anybody because of how he led, how he brought a whole team, how when the greatest scorer in the game, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] was not there and him as a rookie steps in and plays a position that no one even knew he could play, that’s transcending what you can do as a player.”

It didn't quite stop there. When asked if an NBA governeor looking for an 'all around player' would pick himself or LeBron James, Pippen made more waves.

"You want individual accolades or you want championships? Because I didn't chase mines."

This is where Anthony drew the line.

More news: Lonzo Ball Reacts to Possibility of Being Traded Back to Lakers

"Leave [LeBron] the f— alone."

Anthony was not just critical of how Pippen went about his comments his own former teammate, but on Pippen's historic former teammate as well.

"You could pay homage and respect to [them] without putting one of them down."

Jordan was considered the 'GOAT' since retiring with his two sets of three-consecutive championships for years. When James quickly established himself as a generational talent, the conversation started to shift to James getting the 'GOAT' nod after his fourth championship ring.

More news: Lakers' LeBron James, Bronny James Reject Historic All-Star Invitation