Melo Continues March Up the NBA’s All-Time Leaderboard

Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony notched his third 20-point outing of the 2020-21 season with a 8-for-16 shooting performance against the Wizards on Tuesday. Thanks to those 21 points, Melo passed NBA legend Dominique Wilkins on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

The 36-year-old forward now trails Oscar Robertson by 35 points. Once he passes Robertson, Melo will move up to No. 12 on the list. Outside of his placement on the all-time scoring leaderboard, Melo is strengthening his Hall of Fame credentials with his late-career run with the Blazers.

Yahoo Sports NBA contributor Ben Rohrbach put Melo’s stint in Portland into context following Tuesday’s result.

This final act of his career has pushed Anthony from just outside the top 20 on the all-time scoring list to within striking distance of the top 10 this season. At his current pace, a healthy Anthony should surpass the career points of Oscar Robertson (26,710) and Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) in the coming weeks and months. That would leave him a hot scoring streak away from catching Elvin Hayes’ 26,710 points for 10th on the list.

Through 19 contests this season, Melo is averaging 12.1 points per game and shooting 37.2 percent from the field.

Melo and the Blazers return to action on Thursday with a matchup against the Sixers.