John Salley recalls apologizing to LeBron James for thinking Carmelo Anthony is a better player: “I have, like, wine for him, a whole bunch of stuff”

For close to two decades, LeBron James has been widely considered the best player in the NBA. However, that wasn’t the case when he was drafted in 2003 as Carmelo Anthony had also built an impressive resume heading into the draft.

John Salley, of the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” fame, made the same mistake as others did when “The Chosen One” entered the NBA. Here’s what Salley told Shannon Sharpe on the "Club Shay Shay" show about how he atoned for that error:

“You know what I had to tell him [James]? I have, like, wine for him, a whole bunch of stuff and he looked at me funny. I told him, I said, ‘I thought Carmelo [Anthony] should have been the No. 1 pick and I had to apologize. I was 100% wrong. I had no idea you were gonna be this good.’”

LeBron James won Rookie of the Year honors during the 2003-04 season over Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade. James and Anthony’s averages, however, weren’t that far off.

Both quickly became franchise players for their respective franchises in their first years in the NBA. The Cleveland Cavaliers hinged their future on the Akron, Ohio, native, while the Denver Nuggets picked the superstar talent from Syracuse, the then-reigning NCAA champs.

Anthony arguably had the better impact for the Nuggets as he led the team in scoring and helped carry them to the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference. In the postseason against the No. 1 seed Minnesota Timberwolves, led by Kevin Garnett, the Nuggets won only one game.

Carmelo Anthony, however, gave a good account of himself by averaging 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the series. Denver never missed the playoffs during Anthony’s stint with the team.

LeBron James, on the other hand, didn’t make the playoffs until his third season in the NBA. With the Cleveland Cavaliers' supporting cast not really improving, “King James” just turned into a monster. From averaging 21.0 points per game (PPG) in his rookie year, he went to an incredible 31.4 PPG in his third year in the league.

James carried the upstart Cleveland Cavaliers to an incredible seven-game series against the juggernaut Detroit Pistons, who had played in consecutive NBA Finals. The series was James’ official introduction as arguably the NBA’s best for the next 15 years.

With a ragtag team by his side, James dragged the Cavaliers to an almost stunning upset of the Pistons that had retained their championship core. Cleveland’s second-best player at the time was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who averaged 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in the series.

After that series, the NBA knew, if they didn’t already, that LeBron James was a generational talent who would become the face of the league. John Salley eventually figured it out as well and sincerely apologized for his mistake.

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LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony would eventually play for one team

LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, the 2003 NBA draft's top talent, played together for one season in LA.

After their much-ballyhooed games against each other in high school and the NBA, the close friends and hard-court rivals ultimately teamed up. During the 2021-22 season, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony played for the star-studded LA Lakers.

Remarkably, “King James” was still an elite player while “Melo” had become a bench warmer. Their team-up, however, didn’t end up well for the team.

The Lakers didn’t even win back-to-back games in over three months and failed to make the play-in, finishing with a 33-49 slate in the regular season. James and Anthony were members of one of the most disappointing teams in the history of the NBA.

The LA Lakers vowed to get younger and bounce back. General manager Rob Pelinka didn’t bring Carmelo Anthony back while LeBron James signed a new two-year max extension in the offseason.