Trail Blazers veteran Carmelo Anthony continued his march toward history Monday night, passing Hall-of-Famer Elvin Hayes for 10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. The 36-year-old, who wondered if his NBA journey might be over after flaming out with Houston in 2018, has enjoyed a career resurgence in Portland, sinking 40.5 percent of his threes (his highest success rate since his Knicks heyday in 2011) as the Trail Blazers’ sixth man this season. Celebrating the milestone with his teammates after the game, the 6’7” forward reflected on how far he’s come since bottoming out in ’18.
“A couple years ago, I didn’t think I was going to be in this moment,” shared Melo after being awarded the game ball by coach Terry Stotts. “I was out of the league, for whatever reason. I’m back. I persevered. I stayed strong, stayed true to myself, and now I’m here in the top 10.”
A 10-time NBA All-Star and former NCAA champion for Syracuse, Anthony has been a fixture in the league for the better part of two decades, joining the likes of LeBron James (first overall), Chris Bosh (fourth) and Dwyane Wade (fifth) in a memorable 2003 draft class. Melo has had to adjust to a new role in Portland, coming off the bench (he’s averaging a career-low 24.7 minutes per game) after spending much of his career as a go-to scorer. Thankful just to be in the league again after an agonizing year spent in NBA purgatory, Anthony has embraced his opportunity in Portland, flourishing as a complement to offensive focal points Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
With a strong finish to the year, Anthony could conceivably leapfrog Sixers legend Moses Malone for ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. To pass Malone, he’d need to score about 13.1 points per game over his final seven contests, which is slightly less than his season average (13.6).
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