Carmelo Anthony’s retirement sparks big Nikola Jokic debate

Anthony was a homegrown star who was the face of the Nuggets for almost a decade. But he ended up wrecking his relationship with the local fanbase by forcing his way out of town with a trade request to New York. Anthony then went on to earn many of his career accolades as a member of the Knicks.

As for Jokic, it is a virtual certainty that he will have his jersey number retired by Denver. He too is a homegrown Nugget but one who has won two MVP awards (the only ones in franchise history) and has led the team to two conference finals appearances (with Denver now one victory away from their first Finals berth ever). Anthony never finished in the top five in MVP voting as a Nugget and only ever got them to the conference finals once (in 2009).

It actually wouldn’t be unprecedented if Denver were to retire both jerseys. The Portland Trail Blazers are an example of a team that retired the same number (No. 30) for two different players (Bob Gross and Terry Porter). If the Nuggets feel that Anthony and Jokic each made contributions to their franchise worthy of a jersey retirement, sending both of them up to the rafters would be a real option.

But of course, Denver giving away Anthony’s old jersey number (Anthony Randolph actually wore it too before Jokic did) might be an indication that they never intended to retire it in the first place. Anthony’s relationship with the Nuggets remains a bit complicated, and it is under the microscope again now that the 38-year-old has officially called it a career.