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 led Syracuse to the NCAA national championship as a freshman before entering the 2003 NBA Draft. He was selected as the No. 3 overall pick by the Denver Nuggets and immediately began scoring from his first game.

In the 2003-04 season, Anthony was the top scorer among all rookies with an average of 21.0 points per game. He just barely outscored LeBron James, who won the Rookie of the Year award and averaged 20.9 points per game. This was a year with a remarkable rookie class, which 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.

While playing for the Nuggets, Anthony accumulated 13,970 points, making him the third highest scorer in the franchise’s history. He achieved this in 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).

Halfway into the 2010-11 season, Carmelo was transferred to the New York Knicks. Despite the change in scenery from Colorado’s mountains to the busy streets of New York City, Carmelo’s scoring didn’t falter. He consistently racked up points every night at his new home court, Madison Square Garden.

In truth, the scoring continued at almost the exact same rate as it had in Denver. Anthony averaged 24.77 points per game with the Nuggets and went on to average 27.72 points per game with the Knicks. The change in his scoring average was a mere 0.05 points per game between his initial seven-and-half seasons and the following six-and-a-half seasons. Altogether, this amounts to 14 seasons of consistently being among the league’s top scorers.

Carmelo only clinched one scoring title in his career (2012-13, 28.7 ppg), but he consistently ranked in the top 10 in scoring for nine consecutive seasons (2005-06 to 2013-14). In this period, he also finished as the second highest scorer twice.

After the 2016-17 season, Carmelo Anthony was traded by the Knicks to the Oklahoma City Thunder, marking the beginning of the third phase of his career. Currently, he is a crucial reserve for the Portland Blazers, who are on a four-game winning streak. The team is aiming to exit the Play-In Tournament and secure a playoff berth for the eighth consecutive season. His career remains robust in Portland.

Carmelo, scoring an average of 13.6 points per game, is the fourth top scorer in Portland. Earlier in the season, his scoring was heavily relied upon during the two-month absence of CJ McCollum due to a foot fracture. As the postseason approaches, having a dependable veteran scorer like Carmelo, who can make open shots or create opportunities with his dribble or post play, is a tremendous advantage.

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Let’s take another look at the Hall of Famers that Carmelo has already surpassed this season and those he’s poised to surpass this week. The list includes Tim Duncan (1997-2016), Dominique Wilkins (1982-99), Oscar Robertson (1960-74), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-2002), and Elvin Hayes (1968-84). These five players, representing different positions and eras, cover almost the entire history of the NBA. What distinguishes them is their undeniable talent, which would have shone brightly in any era of the sport. This statement also holds true for Carmelo Anthony.

Carmelo, being one of the most robust wing players in the game, wouldn’t have been troubled by the physicality of earlier generations. His ability to play in the post, drive the lane, and conclude through contact means that hand checking and rough fouls would not have phased him.

He doesn’t excessively depend on the 3-point shot, unlike many of today’s high scorers who rely heavily on it to accumulate their points. Although Carmelo is capable of shooting the three, it has never been his main scoring tactic. As shown in the chart above, most of his successful shots were either within the restricted area (3,892 FGM) or the mid-range (3,543 FGM). These two areas represent 56.2% of Anthony’s total points, with an additional 23.4% coming from free throws.

Anthony doesn’t possess lightning-fast speed, isn’t able to leap extraordinarily high, and doesn’t shoot from 40 feet out like his current teammate Damian Lillard. Rather, he utilizes his size, quick initial movement, and excellent footwork to keep defenders constantly unsteady as they attempt to guard him.

If you guard him too closely, he can outmaneuver you and either reach the basket, draw a foul, or make a pull-up shot. If you’re too lax in your defense, he’ll punish you by sinking a 3-pointer, then jog down the court tapping his temple thrice to remind you not to leave him unguarded. If the offense is stalled or it’s close to the shot clock’s end and a shot needs to be taken, pass the ball to Carmelo in the post and let him handle it.

Anthony is poised to enter the top 10 scorers club, whether it occurs on Monday or sometime later this week. He can then aim to ascend even further up the ranks. The next target is Moses Malone, who is currently just 118 points ahead of Anthony. Given Anthony’s current scoring average, he would require nine matches to overtake Malone for the ninth spot. Conveniently, the Blazers have nine regular season games left for him to achieve this.