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

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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 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?