A dozen NBA legends can boast of having their number retired in not only one, but two of the teams for which they have played. They are Pete Maravich, Nate Thurmond, Bob Lanier, Charles Barkley, Earl Monroe, Clyde Drexler, Oscar Robertson, Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dikembe Mutombo.
There is only one that reaches the figure of three: Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors, 76ers and Lakers). But the loneliness of ‘The Big Dipper’ has its days numbered, since very soon he will be accompanied by Shaquille O’Nealwho on February 13 will see how the Orlando Magic shield their ’32’, following the steps that the Heat and Lakers previously took in their pavilions.
Then we have two very unique cases in the figures of Michael Jordan and Pete Maravich, who enjoy an even more special honor: getting franchises they never played for to also choose, as a symbol of respect, to exclude their numbers from their own catalogue. Thus, Jordan saw how the Heat “banned” his ’23’, while Maravich, to his double of Hawks (44) and Jazz (7), adds the case of the New Orleans Pelicans (formerly New Orleans Jazz, hence the gesture), where no one can ask for the ‘7’ on their shirt either.
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In case of Kobe Bryant It is also unparalleled. Two different numbers in the same franchise. But both his ‘8’ and ’24’ separately were more than enough to fly in their own right and independently on the Staples dome.
Finally we have an even more unique case. Since 2022, there is a number that is in extinction. It is number 6. Only Alex Caruso, Jordan McLaughlin and Quentin Grimes wear this digit today and no one else will be able to do it after them. It is the unprecedented way that the League had to honor the Lord of the Rings, Bill Russell, and the number with which he overwhelmed during 13 seasons in which he won 11 championship titles. Only players who were using it at the time of making this decision could continue using it until they chose to stop. Of the sixteen from then, only three remain.
Melo’s pain
As we see, when it comes to tributes the NBA is quite lax in terms of what can and cannot be done, and there is no shirtometer to tell us which numbers can be removed and where, and which cannot. A barometer of success that is most vivid and adaptable to the circumstances of each time. That’s why perhaps Carmelo Anthony’s demons (regarding the Nuggets ‘giving’ his number 15 to Nikola Jokic without his request) end up being unnecessary.
It’s been a few years since Melo, more sincere than humble, confessed what he thinks, and what he thinks is that he has made more than enough merits for his elastic to end up in the sky of the Ball Arena (or whatever the hell it will be called in a few years). years) someday alongside those of Alex English, Fat Lever, David Thompson, Byron Beck, Dan Issel and Dikembe Mutombo.
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Melo believes his jersey should be retired in Denver ????
(via @VidaVivaDiva)pic.twitter.com/wZXfH1vhw8
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 13, 2019
But the cruel irony has meant that what at the time – always according to Anthony’s Hobbesian instinct – was an act of disdain, giving his number to a player chosen in the second round of the draft, ended up becoming an even more terrifying nightmare for his ego: see his number hanging in Colorado, yes, but under a different name.
There is no color
Because given the choice, between Carmelo’s eight seasons in the Nuggets and Jokic’s eight and a half (if the center retires tomorrow), it doesn’t matter what angle, category or approach we choose: the Balkan’s bath is total.
Stats Carmelo vs Jokic in Denver Nuggets
- Carmelo Anthony 2003-10 (564 parties): 25.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 54.7% True Shooting in 35.5 minutes.
- Nikola Jokic 2015-24 (635 games): 20.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 63.3% True Shooting in 30.9 minutes.
Enter advanced aspects such as Win Share or the Value Over Replacement it puts an end to all traces of phorophism. It’s not that the forward’s impact was scarce, which it wasn’t, quite the opposite. The thing is that Nikola Jokic, still very well surrounded (both have had more than balanced squads around him), is devastating and monopolistic in the best of senses. For a 7.9 in Win Share and a 2.7 in VORP of the NCAA champion with Syracuse, the one from the Balkans answers with 11.4 and 6.4 respectively.
The postseason
Let’s get down to business, because what has happened so far is nothing more than the means to an end. The competitive background: playoffs and championship titles.
Carmelo Anthony had an immediate effect on the franchise that selected him as number 3 in the Draft, abandoning eight years of drought in which they did not reach the playoffs and subscribing to them for the next ten, therefore including the eight in which the forward He was there.
If the “The good thing if brief twice good” If we applied it to the playoffs of those George Karl Nuggets, then the result would be spectacular, but unfortunately in the NBA the formula does not work like that. Of eight participations, seven were eliminated in the first round. One emotional blow after another that had as its only reward a Conference Finals where the Nuggets of Melo, Billups, Nenê, and JR Smith fell 4-2 against the Lakers of Kobe and Pau, eventual champions of the 2009 title.
Nikola Jokic, on the other hand, had a much harder time breaking the postseason barrier. Four years of slow reconstruction, physical assimilation and conversion into an unexpected angular axis of a team that as soon as it realized what it had caught in a 41st pick, could only give up and build the entire project around the Serbian’s orbit. The result was cooked over medium heat, until the final prize, champion of 2023, a ceiling that they aspire to repeat in 2024.
Oh, of course: double MVP of the regular season and MVP of the Finals in the individual section.
Two legends, same number
If Carmelo’s career in the Nuggets is worthy of a number retirement (if he is the Hall of Fammer We decided yes in another article five years ago) our colleague Jacobo León was already in charge of studying it in 2019. Go take a look at both.
If we consider that yes (I am one of those who vote yes to raising his name), we would now have a problem that in reality should not be such. Because as we saw at the beginning of the text, the NBA is lax in terms of configuring its range of honors.
We have seen that the numbers are removed here and there without strict restrictions or too customary. It is rather a question of let it happen. And the ad hoc dilemma that we were missing, that of two legends with the same team and numberhas also been faced and resolved before.
The franchises that dealt with such a case were the Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks.. Bob Gross and Terry Porter wore number 30 at Oregon, and the same number with their names hangs on separate banners at the Moda Center. The same happens with Dick McGuire and the pearl of the Rams, Earl Monroe, coincidences of life, also with the ’15’.
The Knicks, so that we understand the freedom of action, retired Guire’s ’15’ six years after doing so with Monroe’s; However, the second belonged to a generation of players much later in time. The order did not alter the product or take away anyone’s sleep. They both hang proudly side by side.
Legacy in Denver: from hero to villain
Thus, the only unknown that would remain to be resolved (if we buy that both Jokic and Carmelo deserve, due to their strict performance on the track, to see their ’15’ above the same), is whether Anthony’s legacy left an indelible stain in the memory of the fan nugget and that until his retirement has brought him endless nights of boos every time he returns home.
We talked about his departure from the franchise, and how it came about, at the age of 26 (in the middle of prime) heading to Madison Square Garden. The version of events changes depending on who you ask. If you approach a Denverite, they’ll probably sum it up with one word: betrayal.
Carmelo provides a very different story. On more than one occasion he has stated that his intention was never to abandon the project, and a couple of years ago he delved into the story in the podcast of All The Smoke de Matt Barnes y Stephen Jackson:
“Contrary to what everyone believes, I never wanted to leave Denver.”
«I never made this public, but I never wanted to leave Denver, but it’s like they put me between a rock and a hard place. We made it to the Conference Finals in 2009. What are you supposed to do? You have to rebuild on top of it, you have to add parts, plug and play, don’t mess up the core.”
The 2009 FC was followed by a new elimination in the first round in 2010 against the Jazz of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. And Melo’s discomfort does not stem from the transfer of Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Billups, nor from the departure of Marcus Camby to the Clippers. He was talking about a player with a much lower profile but crucial for the balance of that locker room.
“They did not renew Dahntay Jones, who was a fundamental piece.”
According to Carmelo, instead of thinking big and rushing to pursue success in the short term, the board chose to immerse itself in the reconstruction, and Carmelo, who believed that it was enough to invest and tinker around him, did not want to be part of it. Of the same. Then, fearing losing him as a free agent for nothing, the transfer was accelerated to reach port in February 2011.
The rest is history. And it is this that will have to judge whether Carmelo Anthony, the Colorado hero who became a villain, deserves redemption and healing a relationship that, despite the failures, gave an unforgettable and vibrant era based on one of the best scoring talents. that this sport has ever witnessed.
Why not. 15 and 15. Melo and Jokic. As unique as they are unnecessary to compare, and both essential to explain, in a few decades, the notches and seams that abound in Denver’s shield.
(Cover photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
2024-01-14 12:28:07
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