Carmelo Anthony, who played for six teams in the NBA in his career, reached legendary heights only with two: Denver and New York. While he remains on excellent terms with the Knicks, his relationship with the Nuggets, the team that drafted him in 2003, remains cold. And Anthony doesn’t understand why.
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In an interview with journalist Rachel Nichols before his Hall of Fame induction on Saturday, Melo was asked if he was aware that the Nuggets had put aside their ‘icy’ relationship and released a video package congratulating him on his career. Anthony wasn’t.
The former Syracuse forward, who was drafted third overall by the Nuggets, went on to become the franchise’s best player by far. Between 2003 and 2010, he was the hero of the Mile High City. However, looking to win a championship, Anthony declared that he wouldn’t be signing a new deal with Denver and demanded a trade to the Knicks. That’s when it all went downhill.
Anthony recalled that at that point in his career, he needed a change. “You talking about a kid in the league, who’s 25, 26, 27 years old. Still trying to figure out their career, trying to figure out their way,” he said.
Without justifying his decision to abandon the Nuggets too much, Melo declared that he still loves Denver and that it’ll always hold a special place in his heart. “When you look back on it, I have to [love] the Denver Nuggets,” he said.
“The City of Denver. That’s like, where it started to me. They gave me those keys at 19 years old to say here, do or die. My love for Denver will always be there. It will always be part of, like, that foundation of basketball,” added Anthony.
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Nichols, on her part, wasn’t going to let this conversation end that easily. In a friendly taunt, she reminded Anthony that although he respects and loves the Nuggets, the organization doesn’t reciprocate. They gave the #15 jersey, which belonged to him, to the new face of the franchise, Nikola Jokic.
Anthony laughed that off. “They wanted to get rid of me, ‘Get this motherf***** out of here,'” he joked.
That said, the Nuggets did congratulate Anthony on his incredible career. That goes on to show that time heals wounds, albeit not completely. The 10-time All-Star stated that patience and maturity played a big role in their icy relationship getting slightly thawed.
“If they wanna have a conversation, we can have a conversation, I just don’t know if we [are] talking about going back 17 years now… Things happen, many more games come, family, kids, friends, it moves on,” Melo concluded. Well, the hint in his words is that he’s open to mending relations with the Nuggets.
