New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony had passed NBA legend Michael Jordan as the third-highest American scorer in Olympic history after Team USA demolished Venezuela, 113-69, on Monday night at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro.
The 32-year-old nine-time NBA All-Star, who together with Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant were the only two players who remained from the 2012 London USA basketball squad, fired 14 points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished off an assist in a little over 24 minutes of playing time for head coach Mike Krzyzewski in Rio.
His 14 markers increased his Olympics point total to 262, which were enough to eclipse six-time NBA champion Jordan's 256 points. Anthony, who is aiming for a third Olympics gold medal in basketball, is in his fourth Olympic stint while Jordan recorded his points in just two campaigns, CBS Sports reported.
The report also noted that the 2013 NBA scoring champion is just 12 points away from becoming USA's top Olympic scorer. Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James his currently at the top of the list with 273 points while former San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson is second with 270.
By the time the Rio summer events are over, or as early as their round three match against Australia on Wednesday, Anthony should be the new all-time top scorer for USA basketball.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times indicated that Anthony is the "alpha dog" in this summer's Team USA edition, asserting himself as the leader of the bunch both on and off the court and even in the sidelines.
During the Venezuela game, Anthony reportedly "cheered up" center DeMarcus Cousins after fouling out "in nine minutes against beefy Venezuela center Gregory Echenique".
"I told him if he fouled out I was going to give him a hug," Anthony said. "I'm a hugger. Sometimes you've just got to give him a hug and tell him everything's going to be all right."
The tournament favorites were threatened by the Venezuelans early in the game as the score was deadlocked at 18 in the first quarter before the Americans stepped on the throttle.
"We weren't worried. We just had to kind of make some adjustments," said Anthony. "They kept us in half court. We didn't get out in transition. We missed some shots early. We played their game, but once we made that adjustment we were good."
