Add another accomplishment to Carmelo Anthony’s resume.
The Portland Trail Blazers forward passed Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce for 15th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with a free throw during the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He entered play just six points behind Pierce for 15th and four points behind another Celtics legend in John Havlicek for 16th place.
Pierce scored 26,397 points in his career, while Havlicek scored 26,395.
Next up on the list is Tim Duncan, who scored 26,496 points during his illustrious career with the San Antonio Spurs.
The NBA shared a look at where Anthony stands.
Anthony, 36, has played for the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and now Trail Blazers since he entered the league as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.
While he has not won the championships that fellow 2003 draftees LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did, he is a future Hall of Famer largely based on his impressive scoring totals alone.
Anthony led the league in scoring with the Knicks in 2012-13 and averaged more than 20 points per game during each of his first 14 seasons. He is also a six-time All-NBA selection and 10-time All-Star who has averaged 23.6 points per game at the NBA level.
This season represents a strong bounce-back effort for the Syracuse product after he played just 10 games in 2018-19 for the Rockets and seemed like he may be headed toward retirement.
The Trail Blazers took a chance on him, and he has quickly established himself as a veteran leader and secondary scoring option alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The team is pushing for a place in the Western Conference play-in tournament as the No. 8 or 9 seed at Walt Disney World Resort, and Anthony has been an important part of the effort.
It would still be a stunning development if he won his first career championship this season given Portland’s position in the standings, but he has further cemented his Hall of Fame status with his scoring efforts.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
