Melo says Nuggets gave Jokic No. 15 to erase his accomplishments

Carmelo Anthony thinks he’s the main character in Denver Nuggets history. It should come as no surprise Melo announced his retirement the same day Denver made its first finals led by the guard (Jamal Murray) they got back in the trade he requested away from the Mile High City and an MVP wearing his old number.

Melo was at it again on Thursday, on an episode of the 7 PM in Brooklyn Podcast, a delusional Melo theorized that Jokic may have picked No. 15 because the Serbian center must have grown up idolizing Melo. That or the Nuggets were trying to erase all the history Melo made in Denver. He called the organization petty, disrespectful and said the Nuggets, not him, needs to get over the exit. All the while Melo said Denver should retire his No. 15.

Here’s the bulk of what Melo said on the podcast with a short clip below:

“This is the narrative they put out there, that he wanted to leave, he wanted to do this, he wasn’t. Why would you disrespect by even offering that (number 15) the disrespect in even offering that shows you just wanted to erase everything that came prior to that right there. F*** y’all, you said f*** me to the dead smack rest of the world, like f*** y’all too. Cool. I ain’t ever said nothing bad about y’all. You boo’d me, I never spoke bad about y’all. I never boo’d you. you boo’d me. You boo’d me when I had 40, you boo’d me when I had 50. You still boo’ing me after a 50 point game. I don’t even get why y’all are boo’ing. You think it’s a disgruntled athlete that didn’t want to be here, spoiled athlete based off of what somebody wrote in the paper. You’re writing newspaper articles then. You running with that then you see me and George (Karl) aren’t on the same page and everyone had to pick a side. Then you put Jokic in the middle of that? He don’t know what the f*** is going on. Maybe he wore 15 because it was Melo’s number, maybe he wore it because he wanted to pay homage but what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase my accomplishments. Now they want you to play that game where you 15 in Denver in this generation it’s Joker and there’s nothing toward that. It’s two different generations. It shows me that y’all are not past that moment. This is old, this is 2010, this is 13 years ago. If y’all are (over it,) y’all are holding onto something that was 13 years ago without anyone having knowledge and understanding of what transpired. So shouts to Jokic on number 15. You can’t knock him, but it’s still, it was community-oriented and supported when the 15 was given.”

“Y’all put Jokic in the middle of that”

Melo opens up on jersey #15 in Denver on a new episode, out now. Tap in.@carmeloanthony x @THEKIDMERO

📺: https://t.co/JhHT8uX4QG pic.twitter.com/iHtZPb3PO1

— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) January 11, 2024

Melo also said that when he came back to Denver to see a large euro-wearing No. 15 he was shocked and he did seem hurt talking about it. Of course, this is not true. In Melo’s return to Denver, the Nuggets had given No. 15 out again, but to Anthony Randolph. And it’s rewriting history quite a bit to think the Nuggets knew when they gave out No. 15 a second-time post-Melo, this time to Jokic, that they knew he would make history. Likely they just wanted to make their rookie as comfortable as possible in a foreign land and they handed him a number he wore before in Serbia. Jokic said in the past that he picked the number as a minor-league player in Serbia simply because it was the biggest jersey the coach had at the time, and he’s stuck with it because it suited him. Should they have done that and made this possible issue? Probably not. But we’re here now.

Melo also seems to have rewritten history quite a bit in his head. It was well known that he forced his way out of Denver and fans had reason to be upset about that. As they did have reason to be upset about him scoring, 40, 50 and 60-point games on behalf of other teams. There’s no need for Melo to blame Denver or the Nuggets for the reaping when he’s the one who has done it and now this is the sow.

There’s no doubt Melo was a great player, and he does play a significant chapter in Nuggets history, lifting the franchise from the doldrums to relevant. He’s also one of the most accomplished American international players, having a huge role on three Olympic Gold medal teams.

Like it or not, it’s not a question of generation even—No. 15 in Denver belongs to one player now. A two-time MVP, Finals MVP, about-to-be six-time All-Star that won the Nuggets their first title. Melo’s limited accomplishments didn’t need to be erased by the Nuggets in scheme, they simply don’t even shadow what Jokic has done.

No. 15 will get retired by the Nuggets one day, but when it does it should be one player alone who gets that honor and that’s the unmistakable greatest player in franchise history.