Carmelo Anthony Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Carmelo Anthony's retirement creates unique situation with Nuggets, Nikola Jokic

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 5/22/23

Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement on Monday, leaving behind a legacy that included an NCAA Tournament championship, three Olympic gold medals and 10 All-Star honors.

Before Melo helped make the No. 7 jersey famous with the New York Knicks for six-plus seasons, the 2003 draft pick sported No. 15 during his seven-plus years with the Denver Nuggets. Now, of course, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic wears No. 15 in Denver, which has led to an interesting discussion on social media.

Which No. 15 goes in the rafters? pic.twitter.com/3mL1kKmoMZ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 22, 2023

As Hall of Famer (and former longtime Nuggets head coach) George Karl noted, it's likely that Denver considers retiring both Anthony's and Jokic's uniform numbers.

While it's rare for a franchise to retire the same number of multiple players, it's been done before.

The Knicks, ironically, retired No. 15 for two players—Earl Monroe and Dick McGuire—while the Portland Trail Blazers did the same thing with No. 30 for Bob Gross and Terry Porter.

Given his impact on both the Knicks and Nuggets, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Melo's uniform retired by both organizations.

Though he's still just 28 years old, Jokic appears to have already locked up his spot in Nuggets lore with the two MVPs and five All-Star nods. If Denver can finish off the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals and if Jokic leads the Nuggets to their first NBA title in franchise history, it should cement his jersey's spot in the rafters.

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