For all the talk there's been about Carmelo Anthony climbing into the top-30 on the all-time scoring list over the weekend, Anthony is approaching another little-mentioned milestone, too: The top-100 on the all-time minutes played list.
With all that playing time comes stress to the body, though, and now, the 31-year-old Anthony is starting to feel it. The Knicks star's season ended last year with surgery on his left knee. Now, he says he's experiencing discomfort in that same knee which was responsible for cutting 2014-15 short.
From Frank Isola of the New York Daily News:
Following Saturday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Anthony told reporters that the discomfort is minor and that he will be available for Tuesday’s home game against Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City. Still, Anthony felt soreness prior to Friday’s loss to the Clippers and sat the entire fourth quarter the next night.
“Nothing to be worried about,” Anthony said on Saturday. “Not really too concerned about it.”
Decide on your own if Anthony is in the midst of his best season ever. His efficiency and scoring have been more prominent in years past, but he's averaging a career high in assists and is approaching his best rebounding numbers ever. This may, very well, be his best season, but it might be his most versatile one. Still, ever since the soreness has crept into Anthony's left knee, the points have fallen.
Melo shot just 4-for-12 against the Clippers on Friday. He went an unremarkable 4-for-11 the following night against the Hornets. Both of those efforts came in losses, dropping the Knicks to 22-24 on the season.
If Anthony says there's no reason to be concerned, then Knicks fans probably shouldn't freak out just yet, but hearing bad news about a player's knee less than a year after he had surgery on that same knee is never good. And remember, Anthony played on that hobbled leg a little longer than many would've liked him to last season, limping toward the All-Star Game, which was hosted in New York and in which he prioritizes participating during a lost Knicks season. That game was the final one he played in before his operation.
