Carmelo Anthony continued his climb on the NBA’s all-time scoring list on Sunday night. Melo scored 28 points for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 121-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, enabling him to jump over Hall of Famer Moses Malone and get to the number nine spot.
Anthony entered the game needing 15 points to beat Malone’s 27,409 points. The 37-year-old star scored 10 points in the first half before hitting two shots behind the arc in the third to get past the mark.
Melo didn’t stop there, however. He continued to carry the Lakers’ offense, scoring 12 more points, including some clutch shots that gave the team their first win in the 2021-22 NBA season.
“He didn’t crawl up to that milestone,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said via ESPN. “He blew the doors off of it.”
It’s impressive that Carmelo Anthony even got here, considering that most people believed he’d never return to the league after a debacle with the Houston Rockets during the 2018-19 season. Melo just played 10 games for the Rockets before being removed from the rotation. Houston later traded him to the Chicago Bulls, who waived him shortly after.
Anthony spent almost a year away from basketball before signing with the Portland Trail Blazers and reinventing himself as a spot-up shooter and reliable contributor from the bench. He left Portland this offseason to join his friend LeBron James in Los Angeles and try to get his first NBA championship.
“I’m still here doing it,” Anthony, who is averaging 17.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in Lakers’ jersey, said after the game. “I think that’s what I’m honestly excited about. I’m here in Year 19, still doing what I’m able to do. Still passionate about the game.”
