Basket Ball Z: The NBA’s finest and their Dragon Ball counterparts

Carmelo Anthony — Krillin

Could we possibly have it any other way? I think not. With apologies to Matthew Dellavedova, Melo fits perfectly in this role. Krillin is Goku’s biggest rival and best friend when they train under Master Roshi as kids. Goku quickly demonstrates that he’s way out of Krillin’s league though. Krillin is a good fighter in his own right, but when it comes to fighting the toughest opponents he ususally takes a serious beating. Krillin dies multiple brutal deaths throughout the DB saga, kind of like the Knicks’ playoff hopes with Melo every season!

Carmelo’s NBA career has basically played out like Krillin’s fighting career so far. Melo and LeBron have been close friends since their high school days and were viewed as legit rivals early in their careers. LeBron clearly surpassed Melo over a decade ago, but the gap has grown substantially as the years have passed. Within the past seven seasons Melo floundered in New York as LeBron went on to win three championships and two MVP awards. Anthony has missed the playoffs for four straight seasons, and back in 2013 his Knicks got beaten pretty comfortably by a solid but unremarkable Pacers team. We can’t even say that Melo is living in LeBron’s shadow at this point, nobody in their right mind would compare the two. That’s essentially how Krillin compares to Goku as a fighter. It’s alright Melo we feel for you: