Carmelo Anthony Becomes 6th-Youngest Player to Reach 20,000 Points

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony hit a key milestone during Sunday's 96-93 win over the Charlotte Hornets, becoming the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points, per NBA.com/stats.

Anthony used a 28-point showing to reach the mark at 30 years, 157 days, while 2003 draft-mate LeBron James owns the record of just 28 years, 17 days.

While not quite as prolific as his good friend James, Anthony is still one of just 40 players to score 20,000 or more points in the NBA, though the list expands to 44 if ABA stats are included, per basketball-reference.com.

Now in 40th place on the league's all-time list with 20,025 points, Anthony needs 18 more to pass 39th-place Antawn Jamison (20,042), who retired after last season. The Knicks superstar is also just 25 points shy of surpassing Tom Chambers (20,049), meaning Anthony could vault to 38th place on the scoring list as soon as Tuesday's game against the Washington Wizards.

Given his age, his relatively clean injury history and modern medical technology, Anthony seems destined for a spot in the top 10 of the list before he retires, and even that's a conservative estimate.

In addition to James, the only players to reach 20,000 points at a younger age than Anthony were Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Those players account for the third (Jordan), fourth (Bryant), fifth (Chamberlain), 11th (Robertson) and 25th (James) spots on the all-time scoring list, with James all but assured of eventually reaching the top 10, while Bryant will likely pass Jordan for third at some point this season.

All stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com unless noted otherwise.