Carmelo Anthony Says Nuggets Giving Nikola Jokić No. 15 Jersey Was a ‘Petty Maneuver’

Melo shared his opinion on the Nuggets giving the reigning Finals MVP the No. 15 jersey.

Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony raised eyebrows on Thursday after some comments he made about the Denver Nuggets and star center Nikola Jokić during the latest episode of his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. 

Anthony, who played 19 seasons in the NBA, the first eight of which he spent with the Nuggets, voiced a complaint about how the franchise was quick to offload his No. 15 jersey to Jokic.

Anthony described the act from Denver as a “petty maneuver” and admitted that he felt like it was a means for the organization to minimize his legacy.

“It was a petty maneuver. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we’ve got numbers to choose from.’ It was like, ‘here, take this one, you got 15,’” said Anthony to co-host Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez. “And y’all put Jokic in the middle of that. He don’t know what the f--- going on.” 

“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

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

“He could’ve been trying to pay homage, I don’t know... But what I believe, is that they gave him No. 15 to try to erase what I did,” he added.

Anthony was famously traded to the New York Knicks during the 2010–11 season, more than three years before the Nuggets drafted Jokić with the No. 41 pick in ‘14. Jokic didn’t debut for the franchise until ’15, four years after Anthony last played for Denver. 

The No. 15 jersey was worn once in between Anthony’s exit from the franchise and Jokić’s entrance, as Anthony Randolph was given the uniform number during the 2013–14 season.