Carmelo Anthony is widely regarded as one of the best scorers in NBA history. A 10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA player, and former Scoring Champion, Melo can put the ball through the net in a variety of different ways, and even the greatest of defenders have had a hard time slowing him down.
There is no denying that natural talent plays a role in Anthony’s greatness — but, apparently, so does Michael Jordan.
In a chat with Barstool, the NBA veteran explained how a certain strategy from his basketball icon (and also one of the best athletes in history) helped him become a better player:
“Say you average about 28, there’s an easy way to get it. He [Jordan] said, ‘break down 7 points a quarter. That’s 2-3 layups, 2-3 free throws. You get hot one quarter, you might have 11, 12, 13 (points) one quarter, now second quarter you can pace, you get your 14 (points) in two quarters.’
So, I’m like, ‘that’s crazy’ and I’m thinking about that in the games. So, next season I have almost 30 (PPG).”
"Break down seven points a quarter"
Melo learned how to watch film the right way through the help of Michael Jordan and averaged about 30 points a game the next season
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Jordan taught Melo how to break down points per quarter, essentially making it easier to attain a higher points-per-game average through an entire season.
Each quarter, MJ would set a specific goal to go out and score 7 points. By the time the game was over, he would — ideally — be sitting at around 30.
It’s rather simple, and probably not as easy as it sounds, but it’s still a good way to be intentional about keeping a consistent pace and spacing out points over the course of a game.
Either way, it seems to have worked well for Anthony, who won a scoring title in 2013 and who sits at a 23-point per game scoring average over an 18-year career.
