Carmelo Anthony went viral recently when he said he wouldn’t trade his three Olympic gold medals for an NBA championship. That brought back memories of Devin Booker’s response if given the same option.
A reporter asked the Phoenix Suns star if he’d rather have an NBA title or an Olympic gold medal.
“I’m taking that ring,” a smiling Booker said after a win at Miami last season. “I already have a gold medal.”
Booker won his second gold medal this summer in the 2024 Paris Olympics and could wind up with three like Anthony playing for Team USA in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He’s reached the NBA Finals once, losing in 2021 to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games after Phoenix won the first two at home.
Booker is on track to generate similar numbers to Anthony by the time he retires from the game. The four-time All-Star is only 1,138 points away from becoming Phoenix’s all-time scoring leader.
If he puts up his career average of 24.3 points a game this season, Booker will break Walter Davis’ record in essentially 47 games. Booker averaged 27.1 points last season.
Anthony is 10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 28,289 points in 19 NBA seasons (1,260 games). Booker has 14,529 points in nine NBA seasons (598 games).
If Booker doubles those numbers, he’ll have 29,058 points in 18 NBA seasons (1,196 games).
The Suns have a puncher’s chance at an NBA championship this 2024-25 season with their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Booker. Phoenix has a new head coach in Mike Budenholzer, who replaced Frank Vogel after he was fired after one season in Phoenix. Dallas, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Denver are widely viewed as the top four teams in the West.
The Timberwolves swept the Suns in last season’s playoffs.
Anthony reached the conference finals once in his NBA career, leading the Nuggets to the West finals, where they lost to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 in six games.
The 10-time All-Star doubled down on his Olympic gold medals comment on his ‘7PM in Brooklyn’ podcast with Kid Mero.
“Three gold medals, four medals, for me, is bigger than the NBA championship because I understand the impact of it,” said Anthony, who also won an Olympic bronze medal in 2004 before winning gold in the next three Olympic games.
“Not everybody wins a gold medal, not everybody wins a silver or a bronze. It’s a handful of athletes from our country that we can say has won medals, let alone gold medals. When you have that perspective, it’s a whole another perspective. Yeah, of course, I want an NBA championship, we all do, but it’s a lot of s— that has to go down accordingly in order for you to win an NBA championship, let alone multiple championships.”
Stephen A. Smith called Anthony’s stance on Olympic gold medals over an NBA title “utterly ridiculous” Tuesday on ESPN’s First Take.
“I don’t think there’s anybody I rooted for more to ultimately have a championship attached to their resume than Carmelo Anthony,” Smith said. “I really mean that because I love him as a brother and as a person, but this is utterly ridiculous. No way in hell.”
Carmelo Anthony cheers in the second half against France in the men’s basketball gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024.
Smith later pointed out that Anthony had never played in an NBA Finals to even have that perspective.
Then again, had Anthony won a title, he probably would’ve never been asked that question. Anthony admitted on the podcast he’d answer that question differently years ago.
“I would’ve said NBA championship, without a doubt,” Anthony said. “Without a doubt.”
At age 27, Booker is in the prime of his NBA career. The two-time All-NBA selection has a few more great years left, especially if he stays healthy. Booker may very well have an NBA championship by the time his playing days are over.
If not, someone will likely ask him if he’d trade in his Olympic gold medals for an NBA championship, too.
