Carmelo Anthony Passes Robert Parish for 26th on NBA's All-Time Scoring List

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony moved up another notch on the NBA's all-time scoring list during his team's 98-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.

ESPN Stats & Info noted he surpassed Boston Celtics great Robert Parish to move up to 26th on the list:

Anthony had 23,309 career points coming into Wednesday's game and found himself 25 behind Parish's 23,334. He surpassed that total in the third quarter of a 28-point performance.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leader with 38,387 points, while Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain round out the top five. It's a stretch to think the 32-year-old Anthony will reach that level anytime soon—if ever—but there are a number of notable names within sight in the coming seasons.

Basketball-Reference.com shared a look at the players Anthony will pursue in the near future now that Parish is in the rearview mirror:

Place	Name	Points
20	Jerry West	25,192
21	Patrick Ewing	24,815
22	Ray Allen	24,505
23	Allen Iverson	24,368
24	Vince Carter	24,244
25	Charles Barkley	23,757

While Anthony has been the subject of criticism throughout his career because he doesn't have an NBA championship ring, he has done enough from a production standpoint to be seen as a future Hall of Famer.

Considering he entered Wednesday's game averaging 21.9 points per contest, he likely has plenty of productive seasons remaining and is already in the same scoring neighborhood as names such as Parish, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson.

Anthony has reached those heights with notable consistency since entering the league in 2003 as the No. 3 overall pick. This is his 14th season, and he hasn't averaged lower than 20.8 points per game. The nine-time All-Star and six-time member of the All-NBA Team wasted no time making his mark as a scorer, posting 21.0 points per game as a rookie for the Denver Nuggets.

He also led the league in 2012-13 with 28.7 points per contest as a member of the Knicks.

Anthony's ascension up the scoring list is a subplot to the season, but his Knicks are now 17-22 with losses in nine of their last 10 games. They are outside the postseason picture after a solid start to the season.

New York fans would strongly prefer to see him use that scoring ability to turn the campaign around and contend for the playoffs instead of just stuffing the box score on a nightly basis.