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Carmelo Anthony reminded the NBA world why he has been named one of the best scorers of the last couple of decades in only his third game with the LA Lakers. While we should not expect Anthony to have a night like the one he had against the Memphis Grizzlies consistently, it is time to appreciate the great scorer he was during his best NBA days.
Anthony managed a 28-point night against the Grizzlies after converting 10 of his 15 field goals and six of his eight attempts from the three-point line. He played 27 minutes off the bench for the Lakers. Anthony also played well in his second game with the team, putting up 16 points in 24 minutes and making four of his six threes.
During the 2021-22 NBA season so far, Carmelo Anthony has made 12 of his 18 attempts from the three-point line and is averaging 17.7 points per game after three games. While it is still early, he could be a good scoring option from the LA Lakers' bench this season.
Carmelo Anthony's Top 3 offensive seasons in terms of on Offensive Rating
The 37-year-old also reached ninth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list, surpassing Moses Malone's 27,409 career points.
Anthony is currently averaging 26 minutes per game and his participation on offense could help him qualify for the league leaders in Offensive Rating at the end of the year (500 possessions played).
While his scoring exploits might not last the whole year, it certainly prompts plenty of talk about how great of a scorer Carmelo Anthony was during his prime.
In addition to his 27,423 career points in the NBA, Anthony has one scoring title to his name, and averages 23 points per game in his regular-season career. He is also a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA player.
In this piece, we will take a look at Carmelo Anthony's three greatest offensive seasons taking into account the number of points produced per 100 possessions (Offensive Rating).
#3 2020-21 NBA season
Of course, he was not in his prime, but Carmelo Anthony's 2020-21 NBA season was a good one offensively. Anthony averaged 13.4 points per game and made 40.9% of his three-pointers (he made 133 three-point shots) while coming off the bench.
He appeared in 69 of the Portland Trail Blazers' 72 games last year, starting only three times.
Anthony averaged 24.5 minutes per game last season and put up the third-best Offensive Rating of his entire NBA career with 112 over 700 possessions. It was an excellent record considering he played a very different role from what he used to during his prime.
On the other end, however, Anthony had the worst Defensive Rating of his NBA career at 117.
#2 2012-13 NBA season
Carmelo Anthony's 2012-13 NBA season might've been the best of his NBA career, at least during regular-season action. He won his only scoring title, averaging 28.7 points per game, and led the New York Knicks to the second seed of the Eastern Conference, behind the world-beating Miami Heat.
Anthony even got a famous first-place vote for the 2012-13 NBA MVP, which kept LeBron James away from winning the award unanimously. That season, Anthony put up the second-best Offensive Rating of his career, with 112 on over 1,500 possessions.
He was also selected to the All-NBA second team after the 2012-13 season.
Apart from leading the league in points per game, Carmelo Anthony had a 44/37/83 shooting split for the entire campaign. He helped the New York Knicks' offense rank third in the NBA in terms of Offensive Rating during the 2012-13 NBA season.
#1 2013-14 NBA season
Carmelo Anthony followed up his NBA-leading 2012-13 season (in terms of points per game) with his best offensive season in terms of his Offensive Rating score, which went up to 113.
While it was his greatest Offensive Rating so far, Carmelo Anthony could not lead the New York Knicks back to the NBA Playoffs. The team put up a 37-45 regular-season record and had the 11th-best Offensive Rating in the league.
In the 2013-14 NBA season, Anthony put up 27.4 points per game and was more efficient than the previous year. He posted a 45/40/84 shooting split during the regular season and scored the second-most points in a single season of his career with 2,112.
Anthony also put up a career-high 62 points against the Charlotte Bobcats on January 24th, 2014.
Also read: Carmelo Anthony moves to 9th place on NBA’s all-time scoring list
