A Look Back At The 2003-04 ROY Race

One was just inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The other has a seat waiting for him immediately after he hangs up his Nikes. Both players have had/are having storied careers, yet despite it being more than 20 years ago, basketball fans still debate whether Carmelo Anthony got the short end of the stick when it came to the 2003-04 Rookie of the Year award in favor of LeBron James. 

So let’s jump into a time machine and dial it back to the 2003-04 season. Arguably the most famous high school basketball player of all time, LeBron James entered the league as the anointed “Chosen One” and became the Cleveland Cavaliers' best player before even setting foot on an NBA court. There isn’t much else one can say about James that hasn’t already been said many times over. 

Coming off a National Championship with the Syracuse Orangemen (now Orange), Anthony, the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, for some reason dropped to the Denver Nuggets as the third pick in the draft. What the Detroit Pistons were thinking with the second pick, nobody really knows. Sure, they had Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Corliss Williamson occupying the forward spots and won the NBA Championship regardless, but this was an elite forward that they were passing up in exchange for the Serbian project Darko Milicic. 

Tale of the Tape

Both players started every game they suited up for 19-year-olds, with Anthony playing a full 82 games, while James finished with 79. Anthony finished the season averaging 21 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, while shooting 42.6% FG and 32.2% 3PT over the course of 36.5 minutes. 

James, on the other hand, averaged 39 minutes, 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists, shooting 41.7% FG and 29% 3PT. 

For the uber-analytical fans, Anthony also had a higher Win Share (6.1 to 5.1) and a higher usage rate (28.5 to 28.2).

With shot attempts and minutes roughly the same, give or take a slight difference, the stat comparison is essentially a push. 

However, when one examines the impact each player had on their respective team, that is where the noticeable difference lies. Both teams finished with 17 wins the season prior, but the Nuggets finished the 03-04 season with 43 wins, while the Cavs only improved to 35 victories. One would also want to take into consideration that Anthony’s best teammates in his rookie year were Andre Miller, Nene, and Vashon Leonard, while James played alongside Ricky Davis, Carlos Boozer, Jeff McInnis, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It would be in large part thanks to Anthony that the Nuggets advanced to their first playoff appearance in eight years, while the Cavaliers were once again a lottery team. 

Unfortunately, the voting for the Rookie of the Year award was not as close as the young star’s stat lines, as James ran away with the award, with 78 first-place votes compared to just 40 for Anthony. 

In a league in which winning matters, Anthony lifted his team to the postseason in a stacked Western Conference, while James could not do the same in the much weaker East. 

The Rewritten Verdict

Looking back with two decades of hindsight, it's clear the voters got caught up in LeBron's otherworldly hype and potential rather than evaluating pure rookie impact. Anthony was the more polished player from day one, having just led Syracuse to a national title while showcasing NBA-ready post moves and mid-range shooting that LeBron was still developing.

The numbers don't lie: Anthony scored more points on better efficiency, had superior advanced metrics, and, most importantly, delivered when it mattered most. In a league where "rings count," shouldn't playoff appearances matter for individual awards, too? Anthony proved he could be the best player on a winning team immediately, while LeBron, despite his impressive all-around production, couldn't quite get his squad over the hump.

Perhaps the most telling stat is this: Anthony became the first teenager in NBA history to lead his team to the playoffs as their primary scorer. 

Don't get it twisted, LeBron obviously became the superior player and had the better career. But rookie awards should be about that specific season, not crystal ball projections. In 2003-04, Carmelo Anthony was the rookie who changed his franchise's trajectory and brought playoff basketball back to Denver.

Sometimes the best story doesn't win, and sometimes the media gets it wrong. This might have been one of those times. Melo deserved better, and history should remember it that way.