Metta World Peace says Melo has championship stuff, reminds him of Kobe

Metta World Peace was waived by the Lakers via the amnesty clause this summer, and he signed with the Knicks. World Peace will probably play a huge role for them, and he can bring a toughness that the Knicks lacked last season. Metta World Ron has played alongside some great players over his long career, and he thinks Carmelo Anthony is on the same level, via Newsday:

"“You need those players like him,” World Peace said. “When you’re trying to compete for a championship, you need those guys. He’s like one of those guys, one of those guys that I played with — when I played with Reggie, when I played with Yao, when I played with Kobe and Pau and Fisher. He reminds me of one of those guys in his own way.”World Peace has talked about Anthony’s heart and said he has “a killer instinct.” But when asked how Anthony reminds him of the former teammates he named — many of whom played different roles than Anthony and Bryant — World Peace put it simply.“His consistency of being good,” he said."

Carmelo is a phenomenal offensive player, but he can be a ball-stopper at times, and likes to play in isolation situations. He had the best season of his career last year, and he has put some of those stereotypes to bed. World Peace is usually honest, so he isn’t sugarcoating what he’s seen from Anthony. If he can commit to giving full effort on defense, and can get a coach who will find an offense that can flow better, then World Peace might be right.  There is one thing that is stopping Melo from winning the championship–Lebron James. Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and John Stockton could never get over the hump because of Michael Jordan, and this may be another one of those scenarios for Melo.