NBA: Carmelo Anthony’s 5 Best Moments as a basketball icon | Ranked

Carmelo Anthony may go down as one of the best players and finest scorers the NBA has seen. With Melo announcing that he is finally retiring, his legacy will forever be etched in the NBA’s history books. Let’s take a look back at Anthony’s career and witness his top 5 best moments as a professional basketball player.

5. The Redeem Team: Melo in the Olympics was unstoppable

Arguably the second-best team ever assembled (next to the Dream Team), 2008’s Redeem Team vowed to take back what’s rightfully theirs, the Olympic Gold medal. A team that consisted of future Hall-of-Famers included a young and rising star, Carmelo Anthony. Players in his draft class, like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, were also present on that squad.

Kobe Bryant may have set the tone for the team and led them to victory, while Dwyane Wade seemed like the group’s MVP. What we didn’t see was how good of a scorer Carmelo Anthony is, even on the international stage.

4. Carmelo’s 62-point career-high in Madison Square Garden against the Charlotte Bobcats

Carmelo Anthony was already in his prime when he joined the New York Knicks in the early 2010s. It was a groundbreaking move for Melo that excited every Knicks fan. In January 2014, Anthony tallied 62 points that night, marking his career-high in points.

Before Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and James Harden, Carmelo was known as the league’s most prolific scorer. During that game, Melo was unstoppable and could score anywhere on the court. Had he played more minutes, he could probably reach 70-plus points.

3. Hoodie Melo/Courtside Melo

Would you believe it’s already been three years since the iconic “Hoodie Melo” meme broke the internet? Well, although this happened during his time off in the NBA, the Hoodie version of basketball’s one of the most talented scorers was truly one of his best memories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5-lxmXVvAY&pp=ygUfY2FybWVsbyA2MCBwb2ludHMgYWdhaW5zdCBidWxscw%3D%3D

During that period, many were asking why Melo was not playing in the NBA. A lot of questions were being raised about why no team had picked him up yet. Fortunately, he had some impressive runs with various NBA teams later on.

2. 43 points and a game-winning shot against the MVP

This jaw-dropping Carmelo Anthony performance is definitely one of Mike Breen’s most memorable “Baaang” moments. If you’re a Knicks fan, this is already up there in one of the most iconic games in New York Knicks’ history.

11 years ago, a huge matchup between the Knicks and the Bulls took place in Madison Square Garden. The Knicks, who are missing Amar’e Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, must face the reigning MVP, Derrick Rose, and the young Chicago Bulls team. With less than 20 seconds left on the clock, Melo made a clutch three to push the game to overtime.

In OT, the Knicks finds themselves hanging by a thread as they are down by two with 10 seconds left in the game. In the most shocking way, Carmelo Anthony made another clutch basket to seal the win in the same spot. It was a breathtaking moment, one that Bulls fans would surely remember.

1. Prime Melo VS The Black Mamba: 2009 Western Conference Finals Showdown

Back then, even the late great Kobe Bryant admitted that Carmelo Anthony was one of his toughest assignments. In a stacked Western Conference, two superstars met on the biggest stage, the Conference Finals. Carmelo Anthony’s Denver Nuggets were looking to dethrone Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers and advance to the NBA Finals. But it was not meant to be. Despite the efforts of a Prime Melo, the Black Mamba was a man on a mission.

It was probably the very last time we saw Melo put on great defensive efforts. Although the eventual champions beat the Nuggets (4-2), it was a beautiful matchup where the competitiveness was high, and the battle was tense. Don’t you just miss the old NBA?

Where do you rank Carmelo Anthony in the NBA’s All-Time greats? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us here at Spiel Times. Make sure you subscribe to our push notifications and never miss an update. You can also follow us on Spiel Anime, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Until next time!