Carmelo Anthony, An Unrecognised Legend
- Jul 9, 2018
- 9 min read
Carmelo Anthony’s career has been nothing short of controversial. His early years in Denver instantly got him a spot among the greats, taking them to the Conference finals, before leaving to go to New York. Not surprisingly, the messy Knicks organisation was never able to build a team around Carmelo Anthony. Yet he managed to carry them to the playoffs, but never made a decent run. Ultimately, the management of New York may have hindered Carmelo’s legacy, but despite that, the playing ability of Melo has gone from possibly overrated, to underrated, to overrated and after his most recent season in Oklahoma City, there is no doubt his rating has gone down, but, his career, is not over, and his final rating among the greats hasn’t been decided. The true impact of the inability of the Knicks organisation on Carmelo’s career is a good talking point.
Melo’s career in Denver had him at a superstar level, carrying a team with only the help of a sophomore Nene Hilario, a young Andre Miller and Marcus Camby. In his rookie year Melo took the Nuggets to the playoffs, (only to be eliminated in the first round) playing 36 minutes a game, Melo tallied 21 points and 6 rebounds at 19 years old.
In his sophomore year, the Nuggets only change was the addition of Kenyon Martin, Carmelo’s averages dropped slightly, averaging 0.2 less points and 0.4 rebounds less. However, Melo played less minutes. Again, carrying them to the playoffs to be eliminated in the first round, this time by the Spurs.
Again, in his third year Melo was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, but this season, upped his scoring to 26.5, and continued to be a star, carrying what was a very mediocre team.
Finally, in Melo’s fourth year the Nuggets were able to give him some help, the addition of Allen Iverson, who was entering his 11th season. Melo stepped up to the plate and showed that he was still going to be the cornerstone of the organisation. Melo averaged, in one of his better seasons, 28.9 points on 47%, 6 rebounds and almost 4 assists. Iverson added 24.8 points, but it was still not enough to get them past the first round, where they again played the Spurs Dynasty.
Melo’s first round woes continued the year after until the 2008-2009 season where the Nuggets made some noise. After beating the Hornets in the first round, and dismantling Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavericks 4-1 in the semi-finals, the Nuggets eventually lost to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers 2-4 in the conference Finals. Melo averaged 27.2 points on 45% for the playoffs, an impressive run.
Melo established himself as one of the games greats, but many thought he was overrated and believed the Nuggets success was largely due to Iverson. The criticism got worse when Iverson left the following season and Melo was eliminated in the first round despite averaging 30.7 and 8 rebounds. Melo had little help, the next highest scorer being Chauncey Billups who averaged 20.3.
And so came the next chapter in Carmelo’s career, a mid-season trade to the New York Knicks, and with it came the terrible, management, coaching and team that Anthony would deal with. In his first playoff series with the Knicks,
(the year he was traded there) Melo averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire was next in both categories, scoring only 14.5 point per game and 7.8 rebounds. No other player on the Knicks managed to average more than 11 points OR 5 rebounds. The Knicks lost 0-4 to the Celtics who had Pierce, Garnett, Allen and Rondo.
Melo carried the Knicks to the playoffs again the following year only to be beat by the newly formed super-team in Miami. The Lebron and Melo matchup was fantastic, but as expected the Heat won the series. Melo out-rebounded LeBron, LeBron lead in assists and steals, but both averaged 27.8 points for the series.
In the 2012-2013 season Melo won the scoring title, averaging 28.7 points. The next highest scorer on the team was JR Smith who averaged 18.1, nobody else averaged above 15. Despite this, Melo carried the Knicks to the playoffs with a record of 54-28. After beating the Celtics in the first round, the Knicks lost to the Pacers in the second round.
Despite his one man show in New York, Carmelo didn’t make the All-NBA Team once. Even after winning the scoring title, Melo was only named to the All-NBA second team. He was however voted as a starter for the all-star game. The argument between Carmelo being underrated or overrated continued.
The Knicks didn’t make the playoffs again while Carmelo was there, despite him averaging more than 20 each of the remaining seasons there. Melo opted for a max contract in New York instead of leaving, a move he was criticised for, and rightly so. If Carmelo wanted to win he should have signed elsewhere instead of trusting that the Knicks management could pull something together. But Phil Jackson and his. . .questionable. . . Triangle Offense de-railed the Knicks further and they no longer looked like competing at any stage in the season.
The Knicks also signed Joakim Noah for $82 million, at which point, Melo knew it was time to leave, despite the emergence of Kristaps Porzingas.
Max Kellerman probably put it best.
“If any team could trade for Porzingas and Carmelo at this point, with Porzingas’ third year coming up, they would be like ‘Oh my god, we are most of the way there to a powerhouse team.’ And the Knicks have Porzingas and Carmelo and they need to get rid of Carmelo because that’s how far away they are.”
Anthony’s career so far has often been overshadowed by the record of the teams he has been on, sometimes, rightly so, but the record of a bad team with bad management, like New York, or a team with minimal help like the Nuggets doesn’t make the skill or playing ability of Carmelo Anthony any less. The dusk of his career is nearing or possibly arrived, and so far, he has managed to average 24.1 points on 44.9% shooting, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists. He has made the all-star team 10 times, the All-NBA teams 6 times, and won the 2012-2013 scoring title.
The rivalry between LeBron and Melo made it hard for Melo’s rating to be unbiased. Competing against each other since high school, Melo and LeBron were compared endlessly, and given LeBron’s incredible success in Cleveland, carrying them to the finals by himself, Melo was left in the dust and quite plainly, wasn’t as good as the phenomenon that is LeBron. Carmelo finished second in Rookie of the year voting, behind LeBron, and Melo’s absence from All-NBA first teams is largely due to LeBron being in the 1st team each year. Entering the league, the same year as LeBron, and facing him his whole career probably hindered the legacy of Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo’s only chance to prove his worth over LeBron came when he was carrying New York and faced LeBron’s Miami super-team in the playoffs. Melo held his own against LeBron and the matchup was one for the ages, but LeBron had a team behind him, and that’s more than you can say for Carmelo.
There is no doubt that Melo’s career is coming to an end, and he has declined over the past few seasons, it was particularly noticeable in his first season with the Thunder. He was below career average in every statistic except three-point shooting which rose 1% in comparison to his career numbers. His point average dropped to 16.2 and his rebounds were only at 5.8.
While his career may be slowing down, and he is aging, the skill of Carmelo Anthony is still dangerous if the Thunder, or any team that he may end up with, can implement his game properly. In his first year with the Thunder, Melo averaged 6.1 Three-Point attempts per game, this is higher than any season prior except the year he won scoring title. This would probably be acceptable, if he was still the only player that can score on the team. But he no longer is. He also took over 4 less shots from inside than he did the prior season, and almost 7 less than his career average. Carmelo Anthony in the post, when matched with another Small Forward (and some Power Forward) is a matchup the Thunder, or any team should be trying to find. At 6’8 and 240lb (203cm and 108kg) Melo is bigger than most Small Forwards he will face. Melo’s post game has always been his strength and if a team can find a way to put him in the post and not on the three-point line, Melo’s productivity is likely to go up, not just in points and efficiency, but also rebounding. Melo doesn’t have to take more shots, but if you take away 3-4 of the three-point shots and find Melo in the post or mid-range area instead, it would be beneficial.
Melo is expected to reach a buy-out with the Thunder, and in the end, this might be best for both parties. Melo would fit well as a low-post scorer on the Lakers or Houston which are two of his top options. Melo has the ability to play alongside Clint Capela who is expected to also sign with one of those two teams. Wherever he ends up, Melo’s shot chart needs to see a lot more inside attempts if teams want to get the best out of a player who can still be a reliable scorer and a valuable member to a competing team.
There is no doubt that Melo’s first season with the Thunder put him down in rankings, and maybe helped prove a point for those that believe he was overrated, however, here is where we can see that Carmelo Anthony Is underrated. Prior to the 2017-2018 season, Carmelo was ranked the 64th best player in the league. Let’s break this down.
Lonzo Ball had not yet played an NBA game and was ranked one spot above him, Andre Iguodala was ranked more than 20 spots higher than him but averaged 14.8 less points. Of course, Iguodala comes off the bench, but the point remains. Carmelo was also only 0.6 points behind CJ McCollum, but 2.2 rebounds ahead, McCollum was ranked 31st. In the words of Stephen A. Smith, “It’s disrespectful.”
Carmelo is one of three players to average more than 20 points per game in their first 15 seasons. The other two were Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Carmelo is a scoring machine, Kobe Bryant said it himself, “He [Carmelo] has always been the player I enjoy guarding the most, because he was the most difficult. . . Melo, he does it all, he can shoot the long ball, has a great mid-range game, great post-up game, turn around right left shoulder, turn around right shoulder.” Carmelo Anthony came into the league more advanced on offense more advanced than most, with a reasonable 3-point shot, raw athleticism and an advanced post-game for such a young player and at the end of his 15th straight 20+ point season, he was still ranked 64th. At the end of the 2016-2017 season, Melo had made 16 game-winning shots, more than anybody else had since 2003 when he was drafted. He was still ranked 64th.
Carmelo doesn’t play fantastic defence, that’s always been a criticism, and a fair one. Defence has not been part of his game and at this point it doesn’t seem like it will ever come. Of course, there are plenty of hypotheticals as to why it never developed, you can blame the Knicks for making Carmelo run the offence every possession and wearing him out. But, it never happened and will therefore always be a huge hole in the game of Carmelo. But, despite his lack of defence, Melo has always made a point of getting rebounds, if the stats don’t show it, his attitude when hitting the glass does, whether it’s his physical nature inside or telling his opponents and teammates to “Get the F** outta here.” Aggressive, yes, but a testament to the work Melo puts in on the boards.
A team’s record has a huge impact on the legacy of a player, unfortunately for Anthony, the Nuggets were never able to win consistently, and also ended up facing dynasties such as the Spurs. On the Knicks, while it was partially self-inflicted, they still never gave him a winning team, yet he still carried them to the second round before meeting a super-team in the Celtics.
Paul Pierce is a Hall of Fame player, there is no doubt, because he won, on a very, very good team. Despite Carmelo having a significantly better individual game, Anthony’s place in the Hall of Fame is questioned. As mentioned before, Carmelo averages 24.1 points on 44.9%, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists. Paul Pierce on the other hand averaged 19.7 points on 44.5%, 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Pierce’s defence was better than Anthony’s, but only averaged 0.3 steals more, but of course, stats don’t mean everything on D.
Carmelo Anthony hasn’t had the great teams that other legends have had like Kobe, LeBron (for parts of his career) or Michael, yet he has consistently played at a high level, despite having 90% of the defensive focus of opposition for most of his career. He has carried his team to the playoffs all but 5 years of his career, averages more points and rebounds and shoots better percentages than All-Time Greats like Paul Pierce. Melo has a lot to prove after a disappointing season with the Thunder, but much of that will rely on how the team that ends up with Melo use him. But there is no doubt that Carmelo Anthony deserves a spot among the greats.
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