Claiming their first title in franchise history, the Denver Nuggets currently sit at the very peak of the NBA. Two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic has done what so many greats in this organization's history could not do and following their championship, former Nuggets great Carmelo Anthony sent a message to his former team on social media.

Spending the first eight seasons of his career with the Nuggets, Anthony made the All-Star game three times in Denver and ranks third in franchise history in minutes played (20,521), field goals (4,989) and points (13,970). Despite being traded to the New York Knicks during the 2010-11 season, Anthony remains one of the greatest players in Nuggets' history.

 

With him leading the way during the 2008-09 season, Denver came close to reaching the NBA Finals, as they fell to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. This was the farthest Anthony ever took the Nuggets in the postseason, but they did make the playoffs every year he was in Denver.

After sitting out the 2022-23 season, Anthony formally announced in May that he would be retiring from the game of basketball after playing in the NBA for 19 seasons. Despite never winning a ring, Melo is a sure-thing Hall of Famer and may very well have his name hanging in the rafters of Ball Arena in Denver one day.

However, his No. 15 jersey may have to be shared with another name in the rafters, as Jokic currently occupies that number for the Nuggets. Delivering the franchise their first championship and likely to lead the team in every single statistical category by the time he is ready to retire down the line, Jokic will undoubtedly go down as one of the best players in Nuggets history right next to Anthony.

He may have left Denver in a trade to New York during the 2010-11 season, but Carmelo will always be a Nuggets legend and it is nice to see him embracing his former team.