Carmelo Anthony accuses Nuggets of 'petty' move

Carmelo Anthony Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Carmelo Anthony accuses Nuggets of pulling 'petty' move on him

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 1/11/24

Me7o is not happy with the team that drafted him.

On the latest episode of his podcast “7 PM in Brooklyn” retired 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony called out his former team, the Denver Nuggets. Anthony’s point of contention is that the Nuggets gave his old jersey number (No. 15) to Nikola Jokic.

“It was a petty maneuver,” said Anthony. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we got numbers to choose from.’ It was like, ‘Here. You got 15.’ And y’all put Jokic in the middle of that. He don’t know what the f–k going on.

“What I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did,” Anthony added. “I used to think about it. I don’t think about this [stuff] no more though. Because what’s meant to be is what’s meant to be.”

Here is the full clip of Anthony’s remarks.

“Y’all put Jokic in the middle of that”

Melo opens up on jersey #15 in Denver on a new episode, out now. Tap in.@carmeloanthony x @THEKIDMERO

: https://t.co/JhHT8uX4QG pic.twitter.com/iHtZPb3PO1

— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) January 11, 2024

All things considered, that seems like a pretty conceited take from Anthony. For one, Jokic was just a second-round draft pick who was chosen during a Taco Bell commercial. At the time the Nuggets gave Jokic No. 15 as a rookie, they probably didn’t even know how great Jokic would actually become.

For another, Anthony didn’t really, well, accomplish all that much in Denver. He made most of his career NBA All-Star appearances in New York and won his lone scoring title in New York. He made four All-NBA teams with the Nuggets (none of which were first team selections) and only once led Denver out of the first round of the playoffs.

With Anthony officially announcing his retirement last summer, it sparked a debate about which No. 15 jersey the Nuggets would ultimately retire. But it sounds here like Anthony would rather not get his jersey retired at all than have to share the honor with Jokic.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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