RJ Barrett responds to criticism from Carmelo Anthony by taking the high road.

RJ Barrett, a former New York Knicks wing, is a player who the Toronto Raptors should be extremely happy with. Barrett has proven to be a reliable scorer for Toronto, despite the organization trying to adjust to a continuously changing roster and trading away many of its stars.

Given that Barrett has flourished in a larger position, it appears that the Raptors will base their future plans around him in 2024 and possibly beyond. Even yet, it wasn’t enough to stop the legendary Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks from criticizing him in public and labeling him a “bland” player on a podcast.

Barrett’s inconsistent play during his tenure with the Knicks—he might score 26 points the following night, but only four points the previous—is the primary grievance Anthony had with Barrett. When asked about Melo’s criticism after he turned in a 24-point performance against the Jazz to follow up a four-point clunker, Barrett chose to play it cool.

Barrett, who thought the remarks were “funny,” responded, “Because the next day I had four points.” “He was nearly correct, considering the game prior to my 24…I swear, he’s a Hall of Famer.” Barrett would have been more than welcome to respond, given the kind of stats he has been putting up since the transfer.

Toronto Raptors’ RJ Barrett responds to Carmelo Anthony criticism.

The four-point game, which came at the end of a long West Coast road trip, was the only game as a Raptor where Barrett didn’t score at least 14 points. In his last nine games back with the team he grew up rooting for, Barrett has scored 20 or more points seven times.

While Barrett’s 3-point shooting seems to be evening out, his ability to get to the rim and finish with ease has remained as sharp as ever. Barrett has averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game on a ridiculous 56% shooting in 12 games since being traded to Toronto.

With New York’s iso-heavy offense and the immense expectations put on the former No. 3 pick, Barrett was prone to some clunkers every now and again. Toronto is giving him free reign to be the type of offensive player he wants to be, and the results have been tremendous so far.

Barrett is always going to have the “inconsistent” label slapped on him until he figures out a way to be more efficient. Given his shooting percentages in Toronto, the new trade addition is on his way to achieving that goal despite his random clunker against Utah.