Carmelo Anthony calls Raptors' RJ Barrett a "bland" player

RJ Barrett might have earned plenty of fans during his first few weeks with the Toronto Raptors. But former NBA player Carmelo Anthony doesn’t appear to be one of them — at least not for his playstyle.

On the 7 pm in Brooklyn show he co-hosts with internet personality The Kid Mero, the former New York Knicks star spoke of what he’s seen of Barrett throughout his career.

“He’s just a bland player, bro. That’s not a shot. That’s not disrespect. I ask a lot of people who are Knicks fans and see what they say. He’s good, he gets it done sometimes, but he’s not an exciting player. You don’t know if he got four or 26 [points].”

Carmelo Anthony on RJ Barrett: “He's just a bland player bro. That's not a shot. That's not disrespect. I ask a lot of…Knicks fans…it's just like, he's good, he get it done sometimes, but he's not an exciting player. You don't know if he got 4 or 26.”

Mero: “…And the… pic.twitter.com/Bt7VS4JrNc

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) January 12, 2024

Anthony played 412 games for the Knicks for seven seasons from 2010-11 through 2016-17, and sits seventh all-time in franchise scoring with 10,186 points. Barrett, meanwhile, spent the first four-and-a-half seasons of his career in New York after being taken third overall in the 2019 draft before being traded to Toronto on December 30.

“He’s good though. He’s home, he might be good,” Anthony added of Barrett playing in his home city of Toronto once again.

Barrett has averaged 21.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in six games for the Raptors, compared to 18.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 26 games for the Knicks this year.

Anthony also compared Barrett’s game to OG Anunoby, the key player the Knicks received in the five-player trade that also included Malachi Flynn and Precious Achiuwa to New York, while Immanuel Quickley went to Toronto.

“OG could do the same thing RJ doing. He just don’t demand it the way RJ demanded to be a part of the offence. Like OG cool sitting on the wing… he’s still gonna go play defence no matter what. Whereas RJ, he gotta score 20. You know what I’m saying?”

Anunoby has averaged 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in New York, with the Knicks putting up a 5-1 record since he joined the lineup, while he’s personally posted a league-best +126 since the move.

The full video is available on YouTube below.

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