George Karl Finally Buries The Hatchet With Carmelo Anthony: 'I Have Tremendous Respect For Melo'

Karl coached Anthony for six seasons on the Nuggets from 2005 to 2011. Anthony was emerging as one of the NBA's premier forwards at the time, with some considering him the best-scorer from the 2003 Draft Class. Carmelo made his deepest Playoff run under Karl, reaching the Conference Finals in 2009 before losing to the eventual champion Lakers.

Throughout Carmelo's NBA career, Karl criticized him for not fulfilling his potential, referring to his former star as lazy on multiple occasions and a 'shi**y defender.' With most agreeing that Carmelo ranks as one of the best players to have never made the NBA Finals, Karl's comments then seemed to have resonated even more given the lack of team success Anthony enjoyed in the NBA.

Though Karl had expressed regrets over not extracting the best out of Carmelo, he kept sniping at Anthony through interviews and on social media, trolling the 10-time All-Star as recently as February 2024.

Hopefully, this really does allow both of them to turn over a new leaf. Maybe we even see Karl appear on Anthony's podcast '5:00 PM In Brooklyn' where the world can see them have a conversation about the decades of tension between them.

George Karl Wants To See Carmelo Anthony's No. 15 Retired Alongside Nikola Jokic In Denver

Even though Karl has publicly changed his stance on Carmelo with this post on X, he seemed to be warming up a few months ago. Despite his negative comments about Carmelo over the years, Karl expressed support for a jersey retirement for Carmelo's No. 15 by the Nuggets. 

"Two number 15s up there wouldn’t bother me a bit. I think they are both going to be retired sometime. I think he deserves to be retired. He took a team that was at the bottom and now they’re at the top and it all started with the drafting of Carmelo Anthony."

The history behind the number is controversial, as Carmelo forcing his way out of the Nuggets led to them not making the number untouchable to future prospects. Many, including Melo, found giving the No. 15 to Nikola Jokic as a second-round draft pick to be disrespectful. Little did they know that Jokic would firmly establish himself as the greatest player in franchise history.

The No. 15 will sit in the rafters at the Nuggets home arena for sure, but it doesn't seem like it will read Anthony when the time comes. A dual-retirement where Anthony's 15 also goes up would be disrespectful to Jokic given the gulf in accomplishments between the pair.

Carmelo will be remembered as a Nuggets legend, but his legacy won't be immortalized for eight years and one Conference Finals appearance after everything Jokic has achieved.