Carmelo Anthony has officially announced his retirement which now marks the end of the career of one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. Anthony finishes with a career scoring average of 22.5 points per game on 44.7% from the field and 35.5% from 3 point range. His highest individual scoring season came in the 06-07 season while playing for the Denver Nuggets where he averaged 28.9 points per game. In his 19 year career he made 10 All-Star teams along with 6 All-NBA teams. One of his last major career accomplishments was earning a spot on the NBA's 75th anniversary team. As we look back on the incredible career of Carmelo Anthony now is the perfect time to ask what is the legacy of the future first ballot Hall of Famer.
When looking back on the legacy and career of Carmelo Anthony we have to start with where made his mark arguably more than any player in NBA history. Anthony is USA basketball's most decorated Olympian as he finished his Olympic career as the all-time leader scoring, rebounding and games played. He won 3 career USA Basketball Athlete of the Year awards over the course of his USA basketball career In 2006, he set a U.S scoring record dropping 35 points against Italy in a FIBA tournament game. Anthony made a record 4 straight Olympic appearances from 2004 to 2016 and was the first man to win 3 gold medals for USA basketball. In possibly his most memorable moment with USA basketball he helped the famed "Redeem Team" win the gold medal game over Spain in 2008.
In basketball terms, Anthony can be defined as simply "a walking bucket" as he was a phenomenal 3 level scorer. In a league full of great scorers not many could do it better than Carmelo as he ended his career as the ninth-highest scorer in league history with 28,289 points. He averaged 20 or more points in the first 14 years of his career while playing for both the Nuggets and Knicks respectively. He holds the Knicks single game scoring record with 62 points which is also his career for a single game. He was a prolific scorer who was physical enough to score in the post but the versatility to attack off the dribble or catching and shooting from 3 point range. In his era, he was also one of the most clutch players in the NBA and was known for being at his best offensively when it matters most. The only part of his game that was arguably lacking what his defense as he was never quite as willing to stop players from scoring as much as he desired to score himself.
In part due to "ring culture" Anthony's greatness has arguably gone underappreciated due to the fact he was never able to capture an NBA title. Still, his basketball career is one of the most special in NBA history and more focus should be put on what he accomplished versus what he did not. Both in his era of and in NBA history not many players were able to achieve many of the things Carmelo was able to achieve throughout his illustrious basketball career. For that, Carmelo Anthony's legacy should be defined as a player who was always able to stay true to himself. He's an all-time great and despite never winning a championship always gave his all and made an impact on every court he stepped on.
Source: House of Highlights YouTube Channel, Olympics YouTube Channel
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