Portland Trail Blazers: Four statistical milestones to watch for during Orlando play

No. 2: Carmelo Anthony’s leaderboard leapfrogging

Winning an NBA championship is close to the only thing Carmelo Anthony hasn’t done during his illustrious 17-year career. But even if that doesn’t become a reality, the fact that fans have been able to give him his roses and a proper send-out — whenever that may be — isn’t a terrible consolation.

Along the way, Anthony has an opportunity to put even more cement on his legacy on the NBA leaderboards.

One to take note of: with just 84 points scored, Anthony will become the No. 15-ranked scorer on the all-time scoring list.

To do so, Anthony just needs to average 10.5 points or more over the final eight regular season games.

And, like a suspenseful game show, I couldn’t help but get a bit greedy. As of today, Anthony is sitting on 26,314 points. The NBA’s No. 10 all-time scorer, Elvin Hayes, is just 999 points ahead of the Syracuse product.

How incredible would it be to say one of the ten most productive raw scorers made a pit stop through Portland, OR before he retired?

We’re getting into the following season, but it speaks volumes to both Anthony’s longevity, and his scoring brilliance along that same route. This season, he’s perched to jump into the No. 15 spot, and then, he’ll be a midrange shot’s distance away from striking into something even more remarkable.

As has always been the case with the NBA and it’s “what have you done for me lately” vibe, surpassing some of these legends intensifies the chatter on where Anthony ranks among the NBA’s absolute greatest bucket-getters.

Analysts who slobber over percentages first and percentages second aren’t going out of business. But it feels awfully difficult to overlook a player who ranks among the 10-15 best scorers to ever lace up, does it not?