Transform.

Larry Bird went from small-town shooter to the NCAA National Championship game. Then backed that up with back-to-back-to-back NBA MVPs on his way to the Hall of Fame.

Carmelo Anthony went from big-city prep legend-in-the-making to NCAA Championship leading man - as a Syracuse freshman. Then backed that up with an annual run on the NBA scoring title.

From the driveway hoop to Beantown. From the blacktop to the Mile High City.

Silky-smooth offensive game.

Didn’t matter where these two came from: they were destined to blow up on the NBA stage.

Scoring columns obnoxiously bloated in a variety of different ways:

Low block. Turnaround. Sometimes they might even call glass.

Elbow-extended. Defender showing teeth. A subtle blow-by leaving said defender no chance.

All of it based on one simple fact:

From the three-point line to the rim. Melo. The crafty scorer’s guile of bucket-fillers present and past.

1-on-1:

From the cornfields of Indiana to the mean streets of Baltimore, who’s a tougher guard on any NBA court?