When Baby Melo Was The MOST CLUTCH Player In The NBA

What if I told you that baby Carmelo Anthony was the most clutch player in the league? Melo was tearing teams apart in 2006, and before he turned 22, he already had 9 game winners. So let's go way back to one cold December night in Boston of 2004, when a sophomore Melo went up against prime Paul Pierce and the Celtics. Rocking the powder light blue jersey and those Air Jordan Carmelo 1.5s, Anthony was looking ever so smooth on the court. And whenever he got the iso with the truth, he made his defense look like swiss cheese, hitting shot after shot from all over the court. The only way Pierce could've stopped him while backing down to the rim is by fouling him hard. Melo scored 25 points for the night, but none more important than this. Anthony freezes the TD garden with the ice cold midrange, putting Denver up by a point with 3.6 seconds to go. Pierce had the last shot, but missed it at the buzzer and the Nuggets got away victorious. Later in the season, they visited the Hawks in Atlanta, and Carmelo had to go up against a much better defender in Josh Smith. Regardless, he still made him look helpless. Melo torched Smith time and time again, using his big body to play some bully ball right here. Anthony scored 22 points on 56% shooting from the field, and when winning time came, he was ready to deliver the knockout. Carmelo buried the second game winner of his sophomore season, sending Hawks fans going home with their heads down. In his third year, he ramped up the scoring a lot, going from 21 to 26.5 points per game on a solid 48% shooting from the field. He was going for the kill shot and first up was the Houston Rockets. Melo nails the game winner over poor David Wesley like shooting over a chair. Easy money. Just two days later, the 7 Seconds or Less Suns came to town, and Carmelo was ready to protect his home turf. Melo was in his bag all night long, racking up 43 points in a wild game that went into 3 overtimes. An alley-oop poster jam in OT number 3 is ridiculous, but it was nothing compared to this. Carmelo sends the crowd into a frenzy with the dagger over Marion. Unbelievable. Next up were the Cavs and LeBron James, and with the all-star game coming up, Melo was eager to put on a show. In a low scoring game, both young superstars had their moments, but when push came to shove, Bron was nervous biting his nails on the bench while Melo was chillin. This is the most explosive version of Anthony you're ever gonna see. He put his team up by 2 points with 22 seconds left to play, when the finish turned chaotic. James gets his own rebound after the free throw miss, but now has to hit both shots in order to tie the game. He makes the first, but then… Melo wins the heavyweight fight and although his late game dunk wasn't technically a game winner, it turned out to be enough at the end. Just look at this graphic of how clutch he was back in the day compared to LeBron. This is an astonishing difference. But despite all that, he didn't make the all-star team in 2006, which to this day remains one of the biggest snubs in the history of the contest. So he made sure to extend his revenge tour against the Wolves in Minnesota. In another overtime thriller, it all came down to this. Melo calls game from the corner over the outstretched arms of Trenton Hassell, Cash. 30 points and the win against Minnesota in front of their own fans. He was breaking hearts on the road left and right, and the 76ers were next on his calendar. Anthony counted up to 27 points in another tight game against Iverson and Iguodala who had to guard him on Denver's last possession. Melo blows past an elite defender in Iggy for the beautiful reverse finish. And after Kyle Corver got denied at the rim on the other side, Carmelo sealed the deal on the free throw line by calmly knocking down both shots. It was just another night of doing business for him. One week later, the Nuggets were in Indiana where Melo continued his brilliance in the clutch. All tied at 99 with the shot clock winding down, you already know what's up. Melo was Mr Clutch all season long, icing yet another tight game on the road. Amazing. And speaking of clutch players, the game against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers near the end of the season was the real icing on the cake. Look at both guys wrestling for position inside the paint, while Melo trying to seal Kobe before they went crashing down on the hardwood. They were going hard at each other, especially knowing what happened in their previous matchup. Kobe hit the game winner back in November and he got the Lakers right back in this one as well, scoring 25 of his 42 points in the second half to send the game into overtime. So with less than 30 seconds left in the game, a real chaos ensues. Melo breaks Devin George's ankles and pulls up for the game winning jumper. He was out of this world in 2006, hitting 6 game winners in a 4 month span. That's unreal. For his 8 seasons in Denver, Anthony has made 14 game winning baskets in the final 7 seconds and according to the Elias Sports Bureau, he has a 45% success rate on those shots. This is by far the highest percentage for any NBA player from 2003 to 2010. And that's exactly when the Black Mamba took over a spot, hitting 7 game winners himself before raising the 5th championship trophy. Kobe was incapable of missing a game winner that season and I got every one of them right here in this video. So check it out and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.