Tracy McGrady shared his Mount Rushmore of scorers from the 2010s, naming Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Stephen Curry.
“Melo, KD, James Harden, and Chef Curry man. Those are my four. KD is arguably one of the most efficient shooters ever. The things Harden was doing night in and night out in that Rockets uniform was incredible man. Steph Curry, the world’s greatest shooter, has averaged over 30 in the league. And Melo, when it comes to one-on-one, Melo is in the conversation of those who cannot be stopped.”
This is a great list when you think of pure scoring ability, but there is a massive oversight. I know people love Carmelo Anthony’s scoring skills, but it isn’t right to say that he’s a better scorer than LeBron James when every measurable metric disputes that. This isn’t even a longevity argument, as James outscored Carmelo Anthony throughout the 2010s.
Carmelo scored 14,783 points in the 2010s, good enough for the 8th-most in the decade. He ranks behind LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan for points scored in the decade. Even when it comes to efficiency, Carmelo averaged 23.9 points on 44.1% from the field over the 2010s.
Over the same time, LeBron averaged 26.9 points on 52.9% from the field, putting up a total of 19,550 points in the decade, the most of any player, including Kevin Durant (19,445).
Lists like this are subjective, and people love what Anthony brought to the game, which is a very aesthetically pleasing scoring arsenal. But it’s hard to say anyone was a bigger bucket-getter than LeBron, given his incredible body of work.
What Changes Can Be Made To The List?
McGrady’s list isn’t a one-answer solution to a theoretical question but merely his opinion. This opinion is valid because of his experience and understanding of the game, but there are other options that he could have used to populate his list.
The inclusion of Kevin Durant (19,445) and James Harden (18,627) has to be obvious, given their statistical dominance on the scoring charts over this stretch. Stephen Curry also seems like an obvious pick because of how he innovated scoring in the NBA with his lethal 3-point jumper. We’ve already been over why LeBron deserved to have his name called ahead of Carmelo, but some other stars also could be considered for this list.
Russell Westbrook outscored Stephen Curry over the 2010s, with Russ putting up 17,603 points as compared to the 16,315 points Curry put up in the decade. Steph did have some injury issues throughout this stretch and vindicated his position ahead of Russ by the three championships he won in that decade.
Scorers like DeRozan and Aldridge go underappreciated but were defining elements of the decade as well. Their lack of postseason success won’t cause anyone to bring them up in these conversations, but the same doesn’t seem to apply to Carmelo, who also scored fewer points than DeMar or Aldridge over the decade.
Dwyane Wade, Blake Griffin, and Paul George could be more suggestions for a list like that, but the answer is pretty obvious. The four players that have defined scoring in the 2010s are LeBron, Steph, Durant, and Harden. Carmelo was sensational, but his offense wasn’t nearly transcendent enough to warrant being put ahead of these other generational icons.
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