Los Angeles Lakers: No joke, Carmelo Anthony should be an all-star

The biggest move that the Los Angeles Lakers made during the offseason was trading for former MVP, Russell Westbrook. It certainly was a polarizing move with Westbrook’s play style and lack of a winning history in his past and thus far, there have been speed bumps with Westbrook in LA.

As far as we are concerned, Westbrook has not been the third star of the Los Angeles Lakers. The third star of the Lakers is Carmelo Anthony, who is turning back the clock in his new role with the team.

Anthony if a future Hall of Famer and former MVP candidate but he has not been the same player over the last several seasons. He is now a veteran minimum player and while it was great to see Carmelo in the purple and gold, nobody really expected much more than a solid role player out of Carmelo.

Carmelo Anthony has been so much more for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has been an all-star.

Of course, there is plenty of basketball left to play until the 2022 NBA All-Star Game but if voting were to commence today it would be nearly impossible to note vote for Carmelo Anthony. It has been five years since the 37-year-old was an all-star and if things continue, he will snap that streak.

It is impossible to deny Carmelo’s numbers. Thus far this season, Carmelo is averaging 17.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. The counting numbers might not seem all that impressive and that is why we must continue to dive in.

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Anthony is shooting a mind-boggling 52% from beyond the arc in 6.2 attempts per game. He isn’t shooting over 50% on one attempt per game. Anthony is 18th in the league in three-point attempts per 36 minutes and ranks third in the league in three-point percentage (min. 250 minutes played).

The two players who rank ahead of him, Jonas Valacunias and Richaun Holmes, have attempted a total of 19 and three shots beyond the arc. Carmelo has attempted 75.

Is his mind-boggling shooting numbers enough to get an all-star nod? Absolutely. Carmelo holds up really well with his peers in the NBA, especially fellow forwards in the Western Conference. While certain big-name players will get votes because of their namesake, if we were just voting for the best forwards, Carmelo would represent the Western Conference.

Carmelo Anthony ranks eighth among NBA forwards in Box Plus/Minus thus far this season with a 3.7 BPM. Only two of the seven forwards who rank ahead of him are from the Western Conference, Harrison Barnes and Paul George.

As it stands today, Anthony is the third-best forward in the Western Conference while being the best three-point shooter in the entire league.

If that isn’t all-star worthy then I am not quite sure what is.