An NBA star waking up with the feeling that they’re about to have the best game of their life and then actually going out and doing it is wild. But that’s what separates the greats. That intuition and the ability to follow through on it is what makes them one of the best ever. Carmelo Anthony is right up there, having admitted that he sensed what would become the highest-scoring night of his career.
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Some of Melo’s best basketball days came during his New York Knicks stint, and on January 24, 2014, he absolutely balled out against the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), scoring a whopping 62 points while shooting over 65% from the field. To those who understood, Anthony admitted that the ‘game had happened’ even before it started.
In a recent interview, Anthony, who is set to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, spoke about sensing he was in for a big scoring night that very morning. The feeling only grew stronger as the day went on. And once the game tipped off, he unleashed mayhem, delivering a performance Madison Square Garden would remember for a long, long time.
“62 happened before the game even started,” Anthony stated. “It was throughout the course of the day. That morning when you wake up. You just feel it, you feel something, you feel 62… just, everything is aligned.”
The Denver Nuggets legend quickly acknowledged that he didn’t exactly foreshadow hitting the 60-mark. But he was pretty sure that he’d have a “great day” and that was enough. “Some way, somehow, I just felt the bounce, you know, felt the pop…”
Carmelo Anthony reflects back on his iconic 62-point night in 2014, calling it a “wake up” moment for him pic.twitter.com/MRvtepb6lv
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Anthony went on to note how athletes often get the feeling of everything falling into place and making sense hours before a game. And more often than not, it leads to optimal high-level performances, like Melo’s 62-point outing at the MSG.
“Nothing can get you out of that mindset, and you go to the game, and its just like a flow,” Anthony added.
The game against the Bobcats wasn’t just historic for Melo personally, but also for the Knicks. He set a franchise record for the most points in a regular-season game, surpassing Bernard King’s 60-point mark from 1984. Performances like that are a big reason why Melo is still considered a legend in the Big Apple, even though he left without a championship.
