SUMMARY
- Recent rumors suggesting that the Denver Nuggets plan to retire Carmelo Anthony's jersey are challenged by the NBA player himself.
- Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement from the NBA on May 22, 2023, after a successful 19-year career.
Carmelo Anthony, a former NBA player who played for six franchises in the NBA, has a legacy worth looking at. The small/power forward was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2003 (1st round, 3rd overall pick). The then-rookie player continued to play for around eight seasons with the defending champions. Anthony recorded his debut game with the Denver Nuggets on October 29, 2003.
Donning the No. 15 jersey, the star forward assisted the Nuggets in sweeping many games and making many records. A Twitter handle, @TheNBACentel, floated a tweet claiming that the Nuggets are planning to retire Anthony’s jersey. The tweet read, “BREAKING: The Nuggets plan to retire Carmelo Anthony’s jersey, per @MarkG_Medina.” However, there appears to be no such claim made by Mark Medina, an NBA free agent.
BREAKING: The Nuggets plan to retire Carmelo Anthony’s jersey, per @MarkG_Medina pic.twitter.com/KgKMoXt5dX
— NBAĆentel (@TheNBACentel) January 12, 2024
Instead, the narrative that is going on in the league juxtaposes these rumors of the Nuggets retiring Anthony’s jersey. In the latest episode of his ‘7PM in Brooklyn Podcast,’ Anthony let loose his emotions over the fact that the Nuggets gave the No. 15 jersey to Nikola Jokić. Having a chat with co-host ‘The Kid Mero,’ Carmelo Anthony said, “It was a petty maneuver.”
Pointing towards his former team, Anthony didn’t mince his words when he claimed that. “They gave him No. 15 to try to erase what I did.” However, the star forward has achieved a lot in his 19-year career in the league. Still, the player remains one of the most underrated players in the history of the NBA.
Carmelo Anthony is No. 9 on the All-time Scoring Leaders list
On May 22, 2023, Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement from the league after having a stellar last stint with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022. The 39-year-old former NBA player has won the title of NBA All-Star ten times in his career. One can take note of his glorious career from the fact that his No. 15 jersey was retired by his college basketball team, the Syracuse Orange Men’s Basketball team.
Carmelo Anthony is one of the most underrated and disrespected superstars in NBA history pic.twitter.com/pjQsqHZMUN
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) January 11, 2024
Not only that, the player is ranked No. 9 on the All-time Scoring Leaders list. In his 19 seasons in the league, Anthony registered 28,289 career points. Given his illustrious record, Anthony will be eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2026.
The three-level scorer often used his jab step to throw a successful bucket. He secured the No. 9 rank in October 2021 while playing beside the Los Angeles Lakers. Defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 121-118, the player surpassed Moses Malone on the list to get to the rank.