Carmelo Anthony’s retirement sparks big Nikola Jokic debate

Apr 8, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony (7) warms up before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Now that Carmelo Anthony has officially decided to hang up his boots, the floodgates are now open for a big-time legacy debate.

The former NBA All-Star Anthony announced on Monday that he is retiring from the NBA. Anthony, who was unsigned this season, walks away after 19 career seasons with ten All-Star appearances, six All-NBA nods, a scoring title, and over 28,000 career points (ninth in league history).

The news sparked a big debate involving the Denver Nuggets, Anthony’s former team. Anthony was drafted by the Nuggets in 2003 and spent the first eight seasons of his career with them, wearing the No. 15 jersey. But Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks in 2011, and Denver later went on to give his No. 15 to current star Nikola Jokic. As such, many wondered which No. 15 would ultimately end up being retired by the Nuggets.

Which No. 15 goes in the rafters? 👀 pic.twitter.com/3mL1kKmoMZ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 22, 2023

Anthony was a homegrown star who was the face of the Nuggets for almost a decade. But he ended up wrecking his relationship with the local fanbase by forcing his way out of town with a trade request to New York. Anthony then went on to earn many of his career accolades as a member of the Knicks.

As for Jokic, it is a virtual certainty that he will have his jersey number retired by Denver. He too is a homegrown Nugget but one who has won two MVP awards (the only ones in franchise history) and has led the team to two conference finals appearances (with Denver now one victory away from their first Finals berth ever). Anthony never finished in the top five in MVP voting as a Nugget and only ever got them to the conference finals once (in 2009).

It actually wouldn’t be unprecedented if Denver were to retire both jerseys. The Portland Trail Blazers are an example of a team that retired the same number (No. 30) for two different players (Bob Gross and Terry Porter). If the Nuggets feel that Anthony and Jokic each made contributions to their franchise worthy of a jersey retirement, sending both of them up to the rafters would be a real option.

But of course, Denver giving away Anthony’s old jersey number (Anthony Randolph actually wore it too before Jokic did) might be an indication that they never intended to retire it in the first place. Anthony’s relationship with the Nuggets remains a bit complicated, and it is under the microscope again now that the 38-year-old has officially called it a career.