Video: Chauncey Billups Says 'Scoring 30 Meant Too Much' to Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony was one of basketball's best scorers in his prime, and his 24.0 career points per contest is good enough to rank 21st in NBA history.

However, former teammate Chauncey Billups went on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Wednesday and said that Anthony's drive to score 30 points per game "meant too much" to the 16-year NBA veteran, who is a free agent:

"Now the only thing I will say—and I've even told 'Melo this—scoring 30 meant too much to 'Melo," Billups said.

"It meant too much because he could have games where he had 20, 22 [points], we win and he's mad. He might have 36, and he's in there, you know—we lose the game, and he's in there picking everybody up."

Billups, who played with Anthony on the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks from 2008-11, made clear that he felt Anthony was a "good teammate" and lauded him for rarely missing games.

In regards to why he felt Anthony doesn't have an NBA home, however, the ex-point guard offered the following: "He hasn't mentally taken that step back to say, 'OK, I'll come in and play against backups. I'll try to help the team out. I know I might not be able to close, but I just want to help.'"

Anthony is one of the game's most decorated players this century, winning three Olympic gold medals for Team USA, making 10 All-Star appearances and leading Syracuse to the NCAA title in his lone collegiate season. He was also the NBA's top scorer in 2012-13 with a career-best 28.7 points per game.

As his career advances, though, Anthony's game has taken a step back, with the third overall pick in the 2003 draft averaging just 15.9 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting over his past two seasons. He parted with the Houston Rockets after just 10 games last year.

Anthony's days as a starter and volume scorer are likely over, but he can certainly land somewhere as a dependable backup who can provide instant offense off the bench.