Hall of Fame Small Forward Reflects on the Good Moments During His Time with the Lakers
The 2025 Hall of Fame inductee, Carmelo Anthony, has spent 19 seasons in the NBA, solidifying himself as one of the best scorers in NBA history. Finishing his career with the 10th-most points in NBA history, Anthony played for six NBA teams, most notably with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks. He is a 10-time NBA all-star and was the 2013 Scoring Champion, averaging 28.7 points per game for the New York Knicks. Although his most memorable scoring moments came with the Knicks and Nuggets, in an interview, Melo claimed that his best year was his lone and final season with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season.
“In all honesty, my best year that I’ve ever had was with the Lakers. When you look at the numbers and the efficiency and field goal percent, we’re in a game of numbers now and analytics, so if you look at analytics, the Lakers’ year was one of my best years out of 19 seasons,” Anthony said in the latest episode of “Ctrl the Narrative.” In his final NBA season, he averaged his career low 13.3 points per game, however, he shot a career best 54.5% in effective field goal percentage. He also shot a career best 52.1% from two-point range, doing all of this at 37 years old, in 26 minutes per game, while playing 69 games. Although 13 points per game is a lot different compared to his 28 points per game season in New York, Anthony played with more efficiency with the Lakers, and did it well for his age. One memorable game is his 29-point outing in an overtime win against the Hornets in November, where he connected on seven triples in 10 attempts.
When Anthony signed with the Lakers, he was looking to win his first NBA Championship, and signing with the Lakers teamed him up with longtime friend LeBron James in hopes of a ring. However, things did not go well, and the Lakers missed the playoffs, going 33-49. The 2022 NBA season was the last we saw from Melo on an NBA court, as he did not sign with a team in the 2022-23 NBA season and announced his retirement a year after his last NBA game with the Lakers. In 19 years of basketball, Anthony did not disappoint. Regardless of the team he played on, he was always able to put the ball in the basket and prove why he was one of the best scorers the NBA has ever seen. No matter which team he played for or which season he calls his best, what truly matters is appreciating Carmelo Anthony’s greatness and the remarkable legacy he left behind as one of the game’s all-time scorers, and leading him to his respectable spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
