Before Nikola Jokic took over, Carmelo Anthony was the face of the franchise for the Denver Nuggets, wearing number 15. But then Denver gave it to Jokic when he entered the league in 2015.
In the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn, as presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, Melo candidly opened up about his feelings on the Nuggets giving Jokic his number:
“Yeah, it was a petty maneuver,” Anthony said about the Nuggets' move to give Jokic the number 15. “It wasn't like, oh, we got numbers to choose from. It was like, here, you got 15… Now, like seven is the new thing. I'm in the Mecca. I'm back. I'm in it. It's a God's number. So I'm not even thinking about 15. …But what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did… When you think of 15 in Denver now, to this generation, you [think the] Joker.”
“And there's nothing towards that. It's just, it was two different generations. So that just goes to show me that y’all [The Nuggets] not past that moment. This is 2010. This is 13 years ago. So if you are, you are holding on to something that was 13 years ago.”
Now center DeMarcus Cousins is weighing in on the Melo/Nuggets situation, appearing on the ‘All the Smoke' pod:
“The reason I wore #15 was Carmelo Anthony… Them passing the number off to the next guy, it was definitely a petty move. But… nobody expected Jokic to become this.”
Demarcus Cousins on the Nuggets giving away Melo's number 🧐
(via @allthesmokeprod)pic.twitter.com/Ht72uJAmny
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 16, 2024
Said Cousins on the Nuggets' move, “The reason I wore #15 was Carmelo Anthony… Them passing the number off to the next guy, it was definitely a petty move. But… nobody expected Jokic to become this.”
It's definitely a tricky situation. Melo is right to feel slighted (even George Karl agrees), but at this point Jokic is an absolute monster and future Hall of Famer. Maybe someday the Nuggets will co-retire the number 15.
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