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

Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, 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

Carmelo, having led Syracuse to the NCAA national championship as a freshman, entered the 2003 NBA Draft. Selected by the Denver Nuggets as the No. 3 overall pick, he started scoring points right from the start.

In the 2003-04 season, Anthony was the highest scoring rookie, averaging 21.0 points per game. He just barely outscored LeBron James, the Rookie of the Year winner, who averaged 20.9 points per game. This impressive rookie 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 scored 13,970 points, the third highest in the franchise’s history, over 564 games, averaging 24.77 points per game. His shooting accuracy was 45.9% (4,989 out of 10,877 attempts) from the field, 31.1% (410 out of 1320 attempts) from the 3-point range, and 80.3% (3,582 out of 4462 attempts) from the free throw line.

Carmelo was traded to the New York Knicks halfway through the 2010-11 season. Moving from the Colorado mountains to the bustling streets of New York City didn’t interrupt his scoring routine, as he continued to accumulate 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. With the Nuggets, Anthony averaged 24.77 points per game, which increased slightly to an average of 27.72 points per game with the Knicks. The difference 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, for 14 seasons, Anthony consistently ranked among the league’s top scorers.

Carmelo only achieved a scoring title once in his career (2012-13, 28.7 ppg), however, he consistently ranked among the top 10 scorers for nine consecutive seasons (2005-06 to 2013-14). Additionally, he twice finished in second place for the scoring title during this 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. Currently, he is a vital reserve for a Portland Blazers team that has secured four consecutive victories. They aim to escape the Play-In Tournament and secure a playoff berth for the eighth consecutive season.

Carmelo, who scores an average of 13.6 points per game, is the fourth highest scorer for Portland. However, he had a more crucial role earlier in the season when CJ McCollum was out for two months with a foot fracture. As the postseason approaches, having an experienced, dependable scorer like Carmelo who can make open shots or create opportunities by himself either off the dribble or in the post, is an invaluable asset.

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Let’s take another look at the Hall of Famers that Carmelo Anthony has already surpassed this season and is likely to surpass 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 players have covered almost the entire history of the NBA, representing different positions and times. What sets them apart is their talent which could have been successful in any era of the game. The same could be said for Carmelo Anthony.

Carmelo, one of the most powerful wing players in the game, wouldn’t have been phased by the physicality of past generations. His ability to play in the post, drive the lane, and complete plays despite contact means that hand checking and hard fouls wouldn’t have deterred him.

He doesn’t excessively rely on the 3-point shot, unlike many of today’s leading scorers who use it as their main scoring tool. Although Carmelo is capable of executing the three, it’s not his primary scoring method. As the chart above shows, most of his points were scored either within the restricted area (3,892 FGM) or mid-range (3,543 FGM). These two zones make up 56.2% of Anthony’s total points, with an additional 23.4% originating from free throws.

Anthony may not possess exceptional speed, an extraordinary leap, or the ability to shoot from 40 feet out like his current teammate Damian Lillard. However, he utilizes his unique blend of size, agility, and advanced footwork to perpetually unnerve defenders attempting to block him.

If you guard him too closely, he can bypass you, reach the hoop, attract a foul, or make a pull-up jumper. If you don’t guard him closely enough, he’ll punish you by sinking a 3-pointer, then jog down the court tapping his temple three times as a warning not to leave him unguarded. If the offense stalls or the shot clock is running down and a shot needs to be made, locate Carmelo in the post and let him take over.

Anthony is on track to enter the top 10 scorers club, whether it be on Monday or later this week, and could aim to ascend even higher on the list. His next target is Moses Malone, who is currently only 118 points ahead of Anthony. Given his current scoring average, Anthony would require nine games to surpass Malone for the ninth position. Conveniently, the Blazers have nine games remaining in the regular season for him to achieve this feat.