One of the biggest points of discussion regarding Carmelo Anthony since his retirement has been the impending jersey retirements. Melo deserves to have that honor, but it seems like he’ll have to let go of the wish related to the Denver Nuggets. During a recent appearance on Curious Mike, the Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke opened up about the controversy regarding Melo’s jersey retirement.
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In a career spanning nearly two decades, Melo represented six teams but his time with the Nuggets and the New York Knicks was the most prominent. After eight years with the Nuggets, he was traded to New York where he stayed for another six years. Now, for a player of Melo’s stature, an honor like jersey retirement is obvious. However, the issue here is that the Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was given the number 15 jersey that Melo wore during his time which didn’t sit well with him. On his podcast appearance, Kroenke tried to clear the air on the controversy following Melo’s petty comments.
He said, “It’s not anything that really ever crossed our mind. So, I was very surprised to hear Carmelo say that the other day, because it wasn’t something that ever crossed my mind. I think Nikola has worn number 15 his entire career, even when he was over in Europe.”
Kroenke said that there was no ill intention behind giving Melo’s previous number to Jokic, but it still managed to get under his skin. However, now that the Joker has his number, it’s almost a closed debate because the Nuggets won’t take it away from him.
In addition to that, it won’t be unfair to say that Jokic has already surpassed Melo’s Nuggets legacy. Not only did he get the franchise’s first NBA title, but he also brought the attention of the league to Denver by completely dominating the game. Jokic is on track to get his third league MVP and has made the Nuggets one of the strongest contenders for this year’s NBA title. With all of those accomplishments and the support of fans, it’s safe to say that the Nuggets number 15 belongs to Jokic.
Carmelo Anthony is hurt by the Nuggets’ maneuver
Even though Kroenke said that the decision made by the Nuggets wasn’t intended to hurt Melo, the former NBA star believes that it was all a well-calculated stunt from the franchise. Melo has been unfortunate in his career when it comes to his relationship with franchises like the Nuggets and the Knicks. While he and the Nuggets are struggling with the jersey situation, the Knicks basically kicked him out after his six years of service which left him confused.
On an episode of 7pm in Brooklyn, the 39-year-old talked about what he believes was a well-thought-out move by the Nuggets. He said, “It was a petty maneuver. It wasn’t like, oh, we’ve got numbers to choose from, it was like, here, take this one, you got 15.”
There’s clearly an issue of miscommunication between the parties if none of them are lying about this situation. Even though it’s not a norm, maybe they can work out a solution to honor both players with the same jersey.
