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

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

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

Following his leadership in guiding Syracuse to the NCAA national championship as a freshman, Carmelo entered the 2003 NBA Draft. He was chosen as the No. 3 overall pick by the Denver Nuggets and immediately began scoring high from his first day.

In 2003-04, Anthony was the top scorer among all rookies, averaging 21.0 points per game. He barely surpassed LeBron James, the Rookie of the Year winner, who averaged 20.9 points per game. This high-profile 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.

While playing for the Nuggets, Anthony racked up 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 attempts), 31.1% from 3-point range (410 out of 1,320 attempts), and 80.3% from the free throw line (3,582 out of 4,462 attempts).

Carmelo was traded to the New York Knicks halfway through the 2010-11 season. Although he transitioned from Colorado’s mountains to the bustling streets of New York City, his scoring prowess remained undiminished as he consistently racked up points while playing home games at Madison Square Garden.

Indeed, the scoring continued at almost the identical pace as it was in Denver. Anthony, who averaged 24.77 points per game with the Nuggets, would go on to average 27.72 points per game with the Knicks. His scoring average only varied by a marginal 0.05 points per game between his initial seven-and-a-half seasons and his subsequent six-and-a-half seasons. Overall, this represents 14 seasons of consistently being among the league’s top scorers.

Carmelo only secured one scoring title in his career (2012-13, 28.7 ppg), however, he consistently ranked within the top 10 scorers for nine consecutive seasons (2005-06 to 2013-14). Within those nine seasons, he also finished as the second highest scorer twice.

After the 2016-17 season, the Knicks sent Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder, marking the start of the third phase of Carmelo’s career. He now plays a vital role as a reserve for the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that has scored four consecutive wins and is aiming to rise from the Play-In Tournament to secure a playoff spot for the eighth season in a row.

Carmelo, who averages 13.6 points per game, is Portland’s fourth top scorer. However, his role was more significant earlier in the season when CJ McCollum was out for two months due to a foot fracture. As the postseason approaches, having a dependable, veteran scorer who can make open shots or create his own opportunities, either off the dribble or in the post, is a considerable advantage.

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Let’s take another look at the Hall of Famers that Carmelo Anthony has surpassed this season and is on track to surpass this week. These include Tim Duncan (1997-2016), Dominique Wilkins (1982-99), Oscar Robertson (1960-74), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-2002), and Elvin Hayes (1968-84). These five players span nearly the entire history of the NBA, representing different positions and eras. What sets them apart is their ability to shine in any era of the game – a characteristic that can also be attributed to Carmelo Anthony.

Carmelo’s strength as a wing player is unmatched and he wouldn’t have been fazed by the physical style of play in previous generations. His ability to play in the post, drive the lane, and finish despite contact is exceptional. Hand checking and hard fouls wouldn’t have deterred him.

Unlike many of today’s leading scorers, he doesn’t rely excessively on the 3-point shot to accumulate points. Although Carmelo is capable of making 3-point shots, it hasn’t been his main scoring technique. As demonstrated in the above chart, most of his points were scored in the restricted area (3,892 FGM) or the mid-range (3,543 FGM), contributing to 56.2% of his total points. An additional 23.4% of his points were scored from the free-throw line.

Anthony may not possess explosive speed, exceptional leaping abilities, or shoot from 40 feet out like his teammate Damian Lillard. However, his strength lies in his size, swift initial move, and excellent footwork, which constantly unsettle defenders as they struggle to control him.

If you guard him too closely, he has the ability to surpass you with a drive, reach the rim, lure a foul, or make a pull-up jumper. If you don’t guard him closely enough, he’ll punish you with a 3-pointer and a triumphant trot down the court, tapping his temple thrice as a warning not to leave him unguarded. And if the offense is struggling or time is running out on the shot clock and a shot needs to be made, look for Carmelo in the post and let him take over.

Whether it’s on Monday or sometime later this week, Anthony is all set to enter the elite list of top 10 scorers soon. He can then focus on ascending even higher on that list. Next in his path is Moses Malone, who is presently ahead of Anthony by a mere margin of 118 points. Going by Anthony’s ongoing scoring average, he would require nine games to surpass Malone for the ninth position. Conveniently, the Blazers have exactly nine games remaining in the regular season for Anthony to achieve this feat.