People always forget that the reason freshmen are even thought of for POY is BECAUSE OF Carmelo Anthony. The press slept on him all year long. They were still caught up in the "upperclassmen for POY" mindset. Freshman weren't seasoned enough. They didn't deserve such an honor. TJ Ford was going to be POY. It was preordained. And then...**poof**...Melo carried a team of underclassmen to the National Title. Every freakin sportswriter in the game had egg on their face after that. Melo changed everything. No more would a freshman be overlooked because of his age and inexperience. It was now about pure talent and ability, and a good dose of hype.
As I always say, Durant should have mailed a "thank you" card to Carmelo when he won POY. Melo shattered the glass ceiling.
People also seem to forget how well rounded Melo's game was as a freshman. He was 230 pounds and could score just as easily inside the paint as he could outside. Jabari is the flavor of the month, so saying he's better than Melo was is simply the lazy, cliche thing to say. Jabari can pick up Melo's jock when he gets a ring and a couple of Olympic gold medals. Other than that, he's just another extremely talented one-and-done player.
