Carmelo Anthony Rips Nuggets For Letting Nikola Jokic Wear His Old Number While Floating Conspiracy Theory

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There’s no telling how long Nikola Jokic will play for the Nuggets, but he’s already cemented himself as the best player in the history of the franchise since being drafted by Denver in 2014. That crown previously belonged to Carmelo Anthony, who seems to have some beef with the team thanks to how it handled the succession.

Carmelo Anthony spent the first eight years of his lengthy NBA career with the Denver Nuggets, and during his time in the Mile High City, he was named to the All-Star Game on four occasions while averaging close to 25 points per game.

However, his tenure was almost exclusively defined by one-and-done postseason appearances (with the exception of a 2008-09 campaign that ended with a loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals). He eventually made it clear he was going to explore free agency when his contract expired in 2011, and his time in Denver came to an end when he was traded to the Knicks midway through the season.

The Nuggets hit a bit of a rough patch in the 2010s before bouncing back in a big way courtesy of Nikola Jokic, who made his Denver debut in 2015. The big man picked up where Anthony left off by rocking #15 (which he also wore during his time in Serbia), and while Melo doesn’t seem to blame him, it’s also pretty clear he wishes that hadn’t been the case.

Anthony got the chance to address that particular topic with The Kid Mero on a recent episode of 7 PM in Brooklyn where he implied the Nuggets went out of their way to make sure Jokic would wear his former number in an effort to erase his legacy.

Here’s what he had to say:

“It was a petty maneuver. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh we’ve got numbers to choose from.’ It was like, ‘Here, you’ve got 15.’

And y’all put Jokic in the middle of that. He doesn’t know what the f— is going on. He could’ve been like, ‘I wanna wear 15.’ He could’ve been like, ’15 is here. I can wear 15. That’s Melo’s number.’ He could’ve worn it because he wanted to pay homage. 

But what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did.”

I love an NBA conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but it’s worth noting this one hinges on the assumption the Nuggets knew Jokic—who was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft and didn’t make the All-Star Game until his fourth season in the league–was going to eventually be a two-time MVP who’d lead them to the first championship in franchise history.

That seems like a bit of a stretch, but who am I to tell Melo what to think?