Carmelo Anthony started his career with the Denver Nuggets in 2003. During his time with the Mile High City, he was rocking the number 15. However, now, that number has been given away to the cornerstone of the team, Nikola Jokic. Looking at this, Anthony was not pleased and thought that the Nuggets had done this on purpose.

He was asked about how he felt about it by the Kid Mero on his podcast. Replying to him, Melo said that he thinks they gave him his number deliberately and called their move “a petty maneuver,” on their path.

Melo feels like No. 15 to Nikola Jokic was to erase what he did

On the 7 P.m. in Brooklyn podcast, Carmelo Anthony spoke about Jokic receiving his number and said, “Y’all put Jokic in the middle of that. He don’t know what the f*** going on. He could’ve been like ‘I wanna wear 15′ he could’ve been like ’15 is here, I can wear 15. Oh, that’s Melo’s number’. He further added by saying, “You know what I mean, like just pay homage, he could’ve worn it just to pay homage, but what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did.”

However, the Joker has his own reasons for rocking the number 15 jersey. Jokic chose this number during his minor league days in Serbia, as shared by The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider in 2019. The choice was logical rather than artistic or emotional. According to Nikola Jokic, he wore No. 15 because it was the largest jersey the coach possessed and he was the tallest player on the squad.

And now, after his journey from being an unknown prospect to being one of the finest players in the league, his simple selection of the No. 15 shows his grounded approach toward the game. He has turned down several offers to establish a personal brand, however, his No. 15 jersey has grown to be a symbol of basketball excellence. It became one of the top-selling jerseys of the 2022-23 season, displaying the Serbian star’s immense popularity.

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As Jokic continues to leave his mark on the Mile High City, the subject of retiring the No. 15 jersey emerges. Given the history of the number in the Nuggets franchise, it creates a complicated position as former Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony has a rocky connection with the franchise, and according to him the No. 15 is his and it should be retired. What do you think, should the Nuggets retire the number 15 in honor of Carmelo Anthony, or should Nikola Jokic keep rocking it and creating history? Let us know in the comments below.

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