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Carmelo Anthony constantly gets too much flack. At the same time, this post is going to be about how Nikola Jokic is the Denver Nuggets talent who is the most important in franchise history. So, ugh, I'm part of the flack mob, I guess?
This has next to nothing to do with stats or how good Carmelo Anthony was during his more than a few handfuls worth of seasons with the Nuggets. Instead, it's about the immediate and presumed long-term impact Nikola Jokic will have on the franchise.
Moreover, it's about the peak. Carmelo Anthony was nearing his peak as a player near the end of the run with the franchise. While his seasons with the New York Knicks turned out to be a fruitless endeavor, which had more to do with James Dolan that Melo, Anthony was the best version of himself with the Big Apple franchise.
On the opposite side of the equation we have Nikola Jokic. An NBA MVP level player who is probably not even close to his peak yet, but has already done marvelous things while playing for Denver. In theory, given his age and the presumption that he's not going anywhere anytime soon, Jokic is on the path to becoming the most important player in Nuggets history.
Funny enough, while the entire headline of this post is positioned as Joker vs Melo, other players in franchise history probably have a better claim to being the GOAT talent — but it's 2021, folks. Non-Denver fans aren't reading about Alex English or whoever else. They want themselves some Melo!
Maybe. I don't know what you guys want. You readers are all a bunch of fickle folk. Love you dearly, but trying to figure out what sort of content you want is more difficult than deciding between a Whopper Jr with no onions or risking it all for the traditional big boy Whopper.
Anyway, what's this post again? That's right. Why Nikola Jokic, and not Carmelo Anthony, is the most important player in Nuggets history.
It's honestly simple if we're removing all other players in franchise lore out of the conversation. Carmelo Anthony played 7 and a half wonderful seasons in Denver. He led them to the NBA Playoffs seven times! What a whippersnapper!
Nikola Jokic has only played six seasons so far in the NBA (all for the Nuggets), leading Denver to three appearances in the postseason. Comparing those two surface level numbers and one would believe the nod goes to Anthony.
However, Jokic is nowhere near done in Denver. Given how the CBA is structured, as well as the incredible amount of talent Denver has surrounded Joker with over the years (and setup well into the future), he has no reason to want to leave the franchise for another… well… maybe ever.
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Couple that with certain top level Western Conference teams aging out (Lakers, Warriors, etc.), the Denver Nuggets are setup really nicely to make consistently long runs in the NBA Playoffs and perhaps numerous trips to the NBA Finals.
To be fair to Carmelo Anthony, I'm giving the nod to Jokic based off projections and conjecture. If the world were to end today via alien invasion, Melo would technically get the nod as the most important player in franchise history. That being said, hopefully the world does not end today. Furthermore, if we are ever invaded by aliens, that they come in peace and enjoy the NBA as much as us.
Crud! Another random word vomit aside. Let's digress.
Even with it being speculative and based off future projections, Jokic doesn't need to do much moving forward to steal this imaginative title from Carmelo Anthony. Basically, all he has to do is stick around with the Nuggets for another four-five years, make the NBA Playoffs in each season, all while his name is constantly linked to NBA MVP discussions.
That doesn't even factor in the likely scenarios of the Nuggets making deep NBA Playoffs runs with Nikola Jokic manning the help, or the big man winning an NBA MVP or two while donning Denver colors.
Patience is the name of the game here. Everyone wants everything done immediately. Joker is only 26. As mentioned before, his best basketball is likely still ahead of him. Scary enough, the same can be applied to the majority of his teammates. Few of these things applied to Anthony's version of the Nuggets.
I love Carmelo Anthony. His career is far more awesome than given credit for. Even with that being the case, when all said and done, it's going to end up Nikola Jokic who becomes the biggest name, talent and force in all of Nuggets history.
