Carmelo Anthony on cusp of reaching Top 10 all-time in scoring

Dominique Wilkins, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Oscar Robertson.

Those are the players that Carmelo Anthony has passed in career scoring so far this season. After beginning the 2020-21 season ranked 15^th on the all-time scoring list, Anthony enters Monday’s game needing 10 points to pass Elvin Hayes and enter the top 10 scorers in the 75-year history of the NBA.

In his 18^th season, Anthony is currently averaging 13.6 points per game for the Portland Trail Blazers, who face the Hawks in Atlanta on Monday (8 ET, NBA League Pass), giving Carmelo an opportunity to put himself in the top 10 scorers club with just one more double-digit scoring night in a career full of them.

Top 11 Scorers – NBA History (entering Monday, May 3, 2021)

RANK	PLAYER	GP	PTS	PTS/GM	TS%
1	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	1,560	38,387	24.61	59.2
2	Karl Malone	1,476	36,928	25.02	57.7
3	LeBron James	1,307	35,299	27.01	58.7
4	Kobe Bryant	1,346	33,643	24.99	55.0
5	Michael Jordan	1,072	32,292	30.12	56.9
6	Dirk Nowitzki	1,522	31,560	20.74	57.7
7	Wilt Chamberlain	1,045	31,419	30.07	54.7
8	Shaquille O’Neal	1,207	28,596	23.69	58.6
9	Moses Malone	1,329	27,409	20.62	56.9
10	Elvin Hayes	1,303	27,313	20.96	49.1
11	Carmelo Anthony	1,185	27,304	23.04	54.2

Carmelo, after guiding Syracuse to the NCAA national championship during his freshman year, chose to enter the 2003 NBA Draft. The Denver Nuggets selected him with the No. 3 overall pick, and he began scoring immediately.

In 2003-04, Anthony topped all rookies by scoring an average of 21.0 points per game, slightly beating LeBron James, the Rookie of the Year winner, who scored 20.9 ppg. This standout class also included Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh among the top five picks.

Carmelo made an instant impact with the Nuggets, who went from 17-65 and 29^th in the league in scoring in 2002-03 to 43-39 and fifth in scoring in Anthony’s rookie season. He spent the first seven-and-a-half seasons of his career in Nuggets blue and yellow and made the playoffs every season.

During his time at the Nuggets, Anthony accumulated 13,970 points, making him the third highest scorer in the franchise’s history. He played 564 games, averaging 24.77 points per game. His shooting accuracy was 45.9% from the field (4,989 out of 10,877), 31.1% from the 3-point range (410 out of 1320) and 80.3% from the free throw line (3,582 out of 4462).

Carmelo was traded to the New York Knicks in the middle of the 2010-11 season. Despite the change in location from the mountains of Colorado to New York City’s streets, Carmelo’s scoring prowess remained consistent as he scored points every night at his new home, Madison Square Garden.

Indeed, the scoring continued at almost the exact same rate as it did in Denver. Anthony averaged 24.77 points per game with the Nuggets and would average 27.72 points per game with the Knicks. There was only a minor change in his scoring average, a mere 0.05 points per game difference between his first seven-and-a-half seasons and the following six-and-a-half seasons. This adds up to 14 seasons of consistently being one of the league’s top scorers.

Carmelo won a solitary scoring title in his career (2012-13, 28.7 ppg), but he consistently ranked in the top 10 in scoring for nine consecutive seasons from 2005-06 to 2013-14. Additionally, he twice finished as the second highest scorer during that period.

After the 2016-17 season, Carmelo Anthony was traded from the Knicks to the Oklahoma City Thunder, marking the start of the third phase of his career. He is currently a crucial reserve for the Portland Blazers, a team on a four-game winning streak, striving to emerge from the Play-In Tournament and secure a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season.

Carmelo, with an average of 13.6 points per game, is currently the fourth highest scorer for Portland. However, in the earlier part of the season, his role was more significant while CJ McCollum was out for two months due to a foot fracture. As the postseason approaches, having a dependable, seasoned scorer who can make open shots or create opportunities either off the dribble or in the post is a tremendous advantage.

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Let’s take another look at the list of Hall of Famers that Carmelo Anthony has already surpassed this season and is poised to overtake this week – Tim Duncan (1997-2016), Dominique Wilkins (1982-99), Oscar Robertson (1960-74), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-2002), and Elvin Hayes (1968-84). These five individuals cover almost the whole timeline of the NBA, and represent a range of positions and periods. However, what sets them apart is their ability to excel in any era of the game – a quality that can also be attributed to Carmelo Anthony.

Carmelo, being one of the game’s strongest wing players, wouldn’t have been phased by the physicality of past generations. His ability to play in the post, drive the lane, and finish through contact implies he wouldn’t have been deterred by hand checking and hard fouls.

He doesn’t excessively rely on the 3-point shot like many of today’s top scorers who heavily depend on it to accumulate their points. Although Carmelo has the ability to make three-point shots, they were never his main scoring tactic. As demonstrated by the chart above, the bulk of his baskets were scored either in the restricted area (3,892 FGM) or in the mid-range (3,543 FGM). These two zones represent 56.2% of Anthony’s total points, while an additional 23.4% were scored from the free throw line.

Anthony doesn’t possess fiery speed, isn’t known for spectacular jumps, and doesn’t make 40 feet shots like his current teammate Damian Lillard. Instead, he employs his blend of size, swift initial step, and excellent footwork to perpetually unsteady defenders attempting to restrain him.

If you guard him too closely, he has the ability to outmaneuver you, drive to the basket, draw a foul, or make a pull-up jump shot. Conversely, if you’re too lax in your defense, he’ll punish you by sinking a 3-pointer and celebrating by tapping his temple thrice, signaling not to leave him unguarded. Moreover, if the offensive play stagnates or the shot clock is running down, seek out Carmelo in the post and let him take control.

Regardless of if it occurs Monday or sometime later this week, Anthony is poised to soon enter the elite group of top 10 scorers and could aim to ascend even further up the rankings. His next target is Moses Malone, whom he trails by a mere 118 points. Given his current scoring rate, Anthony would need nine games to surpass Malone for the ninth position. Conveniently, the Blazers have nine remaining games in the regular season for him to achieve this.