Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony moved up the NBA's all-time scoring list, surpassing San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan. Melo now ranks 14th on the historic list, now with 26,499 career points following his 18-point performance in Portland's 123-98 route of the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
The 10-time All-Star felt humbled to be able to accomplish such a feat, especially eclipsing a Hall of Famer like Duncan. Nonetheless, Melo just feels happy he is still able to play the game he loves – and at a high level at that – at this point of his career.
“I’m just happy to continue to do what I love to do and be out here still doing it at his stage of my career,” Blazers superstar Carmelo Anthony said, via NBA.com. “I’m still enjoying the game and I think it shows. To surpass Tim Duncan, we all know how great he was and what he meant to the game … I’m still going.”
Anthony's history-making bucket came late in the fourth quarter with a corner triple.
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In his heyday, Anthony was one of the most incandescent scorers in the NBA and could drop 30 on any given night. It's certainly not surprising to see the former no. 3 overall pick amass this many points in his career. Up next on Melo's list is another Hall of Famer in Dominique Wilkins. Considering where Anthony is on the list right now, it's likely that he will move up further on the all-time scoring list – perhaps into the top 10 – later this season.
A surefire future Hall of Famer, Anthony is now playing a reserve role for the Blazers. Nonetheless, despite coming off the bench, the 2012-13 scoring champion can still fill it up and give Portland an elite scoring option in the second unit.
A starter and bonafide NBA star for majority of his career, Carmelo Anthony is striving so far in his newfound role with the Blazers. In four appearances this season, Anthony is averaging 13.3 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 42.9 percent from the field.