Comparing Melo and Kobe

With the Nuggets and Lakers set to play tomorow night in Los Angeles I thought it would be interesting as a Nuggets fan to see how Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony compare after the first 4 years of their careers. I am a huge Kobe guy, and believe he is the best basketball player in the world so I wanted to see how our young star matches up. Now Kobe came straight out of High School and didn't get many minutes his first year and Melo came in after one national championship year at Syracuse, and came to a struggling team where he was counted upon to be their star right away so I know it's kind of biased but I still wanted to see so lets check out some of the numbers.

Lets take a look at offense:

• Melo - Through his first 4 years Melo averaged 36.5 minutes a game, averaging 24 points per game, shooting 45% from the field, grabbing 5.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per contest. Defensively he has averaged just a steal a game.



• Kobe - 29.4 minutes a game, averaging 16.3 points per game, shooting 44% from the field, grabbing 4.15 rebounds per game, and 4 assists per game. Defensively he averaged a little over a steal a game at 1.15.

Now I am not trying to argue that Melo is better than Kobe is right now. You'd have to be crazy to argue that. All I am trying to say is the future looks bright for Melo if his career follows the path and statistical progressions Kobe's did. The one thing that I think may hold that up is that Melo is not a volume scorer like Kobe is. Party because Melo is pitiful from 3 point range, while Kobe is very good. This makes a big difference and if Melo ever found a 3 point stroke like Kobe has look out. Anyway it should be a fun game tomorow, and I am looking forward to it.