Revisiting Carmelo Anthony’s Exhilarating 2013 Campaign

“𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.”

════════

↴

°Oftentimes, a player does not have a defined “peak season”. Perhaps their offensive and defensive peak did not coincide; Kawhi Leonard falls into this category. Or maybe they posted great stats, but the impact on winning was not as impressive; you get the idea. However, that wasn’t the case for the 6’8″ forward out of Syracuse University.

Twelve seasons ago, Carmelo Anthony reached the pinnacle of his career – considering the circumstances of previously not having an established “peak season”, this was a turning point for how we view him today. Without it happening, we may have interpreted Carmelo’s career in a different light.

Carmelo Anthony was, for all intents and purposes, an absolute scoring phenomenon right from his introduction to the league. Despite the New York Knicks trading away all their assets for Anthony, the first four seasons of his Knicks tenure made it seem worth the value lost. His acquisition of a 1st-place MVP vote despite LeBron James having one of the greatest peaks ever, was impressive, to say the least.

New York’s roster sported small but important changes and it helped. Newcomers such as Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin proved to be valuable pieces, while the injury of Amar’e Stoudemire, a guy who barely fit well with the rest of the roster, was an addition by subtraction. This all led to one of the biggest storylines in the league during the 2012-13 NBA season.

Carmelo Anthony became the King of New York…

For just the second time in Anthony’s career, everything seemed to go according to plan. Melo finished 3rd in MVP voting, was crowned with a scoring title, and the Knicks finished 54-28, good for second in the East.

Featuring multiple 40-point bombs and 50 against the defending champion, Miami Heat, Melo evolved and inserted himself into the conversation of one of the most prestigious players in the NBA. He delivered life to Madison Square Garden.

As a result of a changed workout and diet, he lost weight and improved his already brisk feet, along with the ability to play with more intensity for longer parts of the game. Melo was in his bag and added more to it in 2013. He was more aware of the court as he made proficient hockey assists and his decisions with the ball became quicker. His offensive impact was better than ever as he championed the Knicks to a top 3 offense in the league.

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗼 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 || 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟮-𝟭𝟯

|| 28.7 PPG || 6.9 RPG || 2.6 AST ||

|| 0.8 BLK || 0.5 STL || 56.0% TS (+ 2.5 rTS) ||

Looking at the basic box stats, Anthony also had career years in 3PA per game, OBPM, and WS/48. It doesn’t get any better, because the 6’8 forward from Syracuse was one of the best floor-raising players this season. Mike D’Antoni’s calculators may tell you otherwise, but he’s completely wrong. This was one of the best scoring seasons of the 2010s.

Despite leading the league in USG%, you can argue that Melo’s ball dominance was positively impacting the Knicks as their offense was crazy-good. New York led the league in all types of 3-point stats, they even surpassed the 2010 Orlando Magic for the most threes made in a season as they converted on 891 threes. (The 2015 Warriors broke the record later).

Another impressive fact about the season is that Anthony’s offensive gravity allowed other players such as JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Raymond Felton to play at their peak form. The season prior, Melo didn’t have to “backpack” as much because he had a healthy Amaré Stoudmire and Jeremy Lin.

You see, Carmelo was the only offensive all-star on the 2012-13 team. Yeah, JR Smith was the 6th Man Of The Year but he wasn’t a “star” per se. This meant that Anthony would be facing plenty of double teams but it didn’t seem to matter. Either he’d get a good shot off or find an open man for an open three. Below are his stats on how many of his shots are assisted compared to the rest of his teammates.

━━━━━ ▣

Anthony’s Teammates

▣ 53% of 2pt field goals assisted

▣ 87% of 3pt field goals assisted

’13 Carmelo Anthony

▣ 27% of 2pt field goals assisted

▣ 76% of 3pt field goals assisted

━━━━━ ▣

As you can see here, there was a big disparity between which percentage of shots were assisted for Melo and that for his teammates. This means that because of Anthony’s gravity in this season, his teammates were getting a lot of open looks when teams would double-team Anthony. Down below are a few examples of those plays where Anthony would either pass it, or appropriately decide the issue with a jumper.

𒊹 𒊹 𒊹

‘13 Carmelo Anthony Double Teams

𒊹 𒊹 𒊹

For pretty much all of his career, Anthony’s offensive arsenal revolved around these same characteristics. They were accompanied by an elite triple threat, alongside the agile footwork that he possessed on pretty much any defender possible.

There should be no doubt in our heads that this was a great season. One of the best scoring seasons of the 2010s as well. Anthony always had great offensive dexterity, but this time it altered the teams’ fortune positively.

Metrics such as Offensive Win-Shares suggest that his impact was similar to amazing seasons such as 2020 Giannis Antetokounmpo and 2017 Kevin Durant. Don’t get me wrong, I am just as hesitant as you are to go THAT far. However, I think that it’s key to note that Anthony had to elevate his game significantly from the previous season to go from 17th to 3rd in ORtg and 1st in 3-pointers made per event.

↓↓↓

After everything discussed in the article, I’m sure you have asked yourself why this season isn’t as heavily praised as the other peak seasons. The answer is blatant and brutal, and it starts with the 2012-13 NBA Playoffs.

𖣔———𖣔

2013 NBA Playoffs

Now, I’ve seen certain fans trying to minimize Anthony’s playoff run, using the efficiency argument, however, I can’t say they’re wrong. I’ll acknowledge that Anthony had mediocre efficiency for the average of those playoffs, but when you add context the playoff run will look entirely different.

One thing that goes over people’s heads is that Carmelo was dealing with multiple injuries in those playoffs. Unfortunately, he suffered a left knee injury in Game 4 vs Boston. This injury would keep bothering him at times until he was forced to take season-ending knee-surgery in 2015.

He also suffered from a shoulder injury in Game 5 vs Boston when he got stuck on a screen from Kevin Garnett. Then he would go on to re-injure that shoulder twice, the first time when Avery Bradley committed a reach-in foul in Game 6 VS Boston, the second was after posterizing Roy Hibbert in Game 2 vs Indiana.

The reason that this is important to note is that when you look at his games before the two injuries, he was on a mission.

••••••

𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝟭-𝟯 𝗩𝗦 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻 (𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆)

32.0 PPG || 5.7 RPG || 1.7 STL || 46.2% FG

50.0% 3PT || 95.5% FT || 57.7% TS (+4.8% rTS)

••••••

After that, he gets hurt, and he plays badly. We all should all know the story by now. Games 4-6 against Boston were ugly, and you could tell that the two injuries were bothering him as his production dropped significantly. Thankfully, after the Celtics series, he’d have two full days to SLIGHTLY recover and he posted great stats in the series against Indiana. Including a Game 2 performance where he re-injured his shoulder but still goes off for 32 pts, 9 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, on 50/40/100 splits and sparked a 33-13 run for the Knicks.

•••••••

𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝟭-𝟲 𝗩𝗦 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 (𝗛𝘂𝗿𝘁)

28.5 PPG || 7.8 RPG || 43.3% FG

35.8% 3PT || 86.8% FT || 51.9% TS (-0.8% rTS)

•••••••

Although he was slightly inefficient, these were decent stats and he was playing through two injuries. This wasn’t even the most impressive part of his run. Melo focused heavily on defense as he locked up his defensive assignments twice in a row. Paul George and Paul Pierce (two all-stars) struggled to stay efficient.

•••••••

𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝟭-𝟲 𝗩𝗦 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸

19.2 PPG || 5.7 RPG || 5.3 AST

36.8% FG || 26.8% 3PT || 89.7% FT || 48.2% TS (-4.5 rTS)

•••••••

𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝟭-𝟲 𝗩𝗦 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸

19.5 PPG || 7.0 RPG || 5.0 AST

39.4% FG || 26.7% 3PT || 60.0% FT || 49.2% TS (-3.5 rTS)

••••••

If this doesn’t tell you enough, nothing will. Anthony led the team in Defensive Win Shares despite having All-Star and Defensive Player Of The Year, Tyson Chandler. It’s admirable all the work he did in these playoffs to carry this team to a near Game 7. If Carmelo finishes the dunk on Roy Hibbert in Game 6, the momentum of the series would have palpably shifted in favor of New York. Game 7 would have been in Madison Square Garden, the arena where the Knicks had a record of 4-2 in the postseason, and 32-9 in the regular season.

Another underrated aspect of this run was that Anthony had to do everything offensively, especially against Indiana. For the entire playoffs, JR Smith shot 39.8% TS and 19% from three while Tyson Chandler made Roy Hibbert look like Shaquille O’Neal. Also, Jason Kidd didn’t score a field goal or point and shot 0% from everything. Raymond Felton shot (-6.0% rTS) and Iman Shumpert shot (-5.1% rTS).

Did Carmelo have the greatest playoff run ever? No, far from that as it wasn’t even his own greatest run. Was it a bad run? Not at all. However, it seemed that no matter what Anthony did, it was clear that the rest of the Knicks were at their lowest points of the year. The Pacers were just too hot and the Knicks were struggling and there was almost no point in the series in which you could say “Yeah the Knicks just took over.” This brings me to a perfect transition for my next point.

══ ≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫ ══

Roy Hibbert’s Dominance Over New York

Remember when I mentioned how great Roy Hibbert was in this series? Yeah, I wasn’t kidding, he was extraordinary. Indiana fans were electrified so see Hibbert make Tyson Chandler look like a fool. Especially since Chandler was appointed just ahead of Hibbert in the 2013 All-Star Voting. If you were a Knicks fan, you hated seeing your team lose in such a pathetic fashion. Even though it was still a “good and close series” it felt like a sweep, Hibbert was just that dominant with his defensive prowess on the interior and post moves.

NBA legend Jerry West summarized the series perfectly. “This is the most together group I’ve ever been a part of,” West highlighted “We don’t have a bunch of I guys, we have a bunch of we guys.” This was a great quote from West and I couldn’t agree more, the Pacers played like a unit. Despite Paul George being held in check by Anthony, David West, George Hill, Roy Hibbert, and Lance Stephenson all came up HUGE for Indiana and it helped them win. On the other hand, New York was a one-man show, and to be frank, that wouldn’t be enough against that scrappy, defensive-minded Pacers roster.

Carmelo Anthony publicly stated that he hated the loss, he despised that he “failed the season”. If you look down below it shows a video of Carmelo Anthony speaking time Stephen A Smith and telling him that the season was “Eastern Conference Finals or bust.”

𒊹 𒊹 𒊹

Carmelo Anthony 1-on-1 with Stephen A. Smith about the Knicks, Olympic team (2012) | SportsCenter

𒊹 𒊹 𒊹

Carmelo has never been the type of guy to blame somebody else, instead he took all the bullets and as a result, people questioned whether he was good enough to lead the Knicks to a championship during his prime. Now we know that the answer was no, but people still do recognize him as an all-time great. This brings me to my concluding statements…

——————[]——————

Essence

How will people remember not only ‘13 Carmelo Anthony but his entire career in general? Does this season help his all-time rankings at all?

I think this season helps his all-time ranking. Although the playoff finish was underwhelming, I think people will the fans will remember him similar to how they remember other non-portable, volume scoring machines such as Allen Iverson, Dominique Wilkins, Alex English, Bernard King, and Adrian Dantley. These were all great players and have always been recognized as some of the greatest scorers ever, but they were never able to get it done partly because of their ball-dominant play-style.

It may seem ridiculous to some people that someone would say that now, but I feel like time will pass and fans will forgive and forget things that happened with Carmelo Anthony, such as the Linsanity drama and the disastrous seasons in Oklahoma City and Houston.

I sincerely hope that not only our generation but the next generation of basketball experts can honor Carmelo Anthony because there is one thing for sure… I am going to be one of those people who will.

// #Knickstape //

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

#StayMe7o