Former 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA combo forward Carmelo Anthony’s relationship with the team where he spent the first seven-and-a-half pro seasons, the Denver Nuggets, has been pretty strained since he demanded Denver trade him to the New York Knicks at the 2011 trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Denver selected Anthony with the No. 3 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, hot off a one-and-done championship NCAA season with Syracuse.<\/p>\n
They complied, and he spent the subsequent six-and-a-half seasons of his remaining prime on New York clubs that often underwhelming in the postseason \u2014 if they even got there.<\/p>\n
A fraught relationship<\/p>\n
When the Nuggets selected a relatively unknown Serbian center midway through the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, they decided to let him take Anthony’s No. 15 jersey number. Almost no one assumed Nikola Jokic would promptly turn into a three-time league MVP and the best player in the league. Now, Denver’s window to retire the jersey for Anthony is closed, as it will absolutely be retired for his successor instead.<\/p>\n
Robert Zeglinski of For The Win<\/a>\u00a0submits that it’s time for both Anthony and the Nuggets to squash their beef.<\/p>\n MORE NEWS:\u00a0Denver Nuggets forward ranked among NBA’s top newcomers<\/a><\/p>\n “In the 14 years since Anthony bolted from the medium-sized Colorado Front Range for New York City’s bustling metropolis, Anthony and the Nuggets haven’t been on the same page,” Zeglinski writes. “They’ve seldom even acknowledged each other in public. Both parties are filled with righteous pride about what actually happened in their high-profile separation. Both believe they’re owed something. Both, for all intents and purposes, are right to be frustrated with the other.”<\/p>\n During his\u00a0Nuggets tenure, the 6-foot-7 pro averaged 24.8 points on .459\/.311\/.803 shooting splits, 6.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks a night. Anthony also brought Denver to the playoffs every year he was there, including a run to the 2009 Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n “We’re all mature adults, right? Even when the inherent egotism of professional sports is involved, we should be able to focus on the big picture and what actually matters, no?” Zeglinski continues.<\/p>\n