The 2003 NBA Draft featured one of the draft classes in NBA history. The draft class was headed by none other than LeBron James, who ended up being drafted number one overall, but apart from James, the 2003 NBA Draft gave fans three more amazing players.
We are talking about Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. Today our focus is on Anthony, who was drafted third overall by the Denver Nuggets.
If LeBron James was never part of that draft class, many predicted it would be Melo who would have been drafted at the number one spot. Regardless, Melo proved his talent right from his rookie season in the league.
Since his rookie year, Melo never looked back and started to rack up several amazing scoring accolades. He made it clear that he will be remembered as one of the best scorers to ever play in the league.
Melo spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Nuggets, but he could never lead them to a meaningful run in the postseason. With growing frustration, Melo decided to request a trade and was ultimately sent to the New York Knicks.
With the Knicks, Melo continued his dominance but was once again never able to win an NBA Championship in the seven seasons that he played for the NBA franchise. Melo may have never won a ring with those two teams, but he is still considered a legend for them.
Keeping that in mind, an NBA fan on Reddit wondered if, post-retirement, Melo would get his jersey retired by either of the NBA franchises. Here’s what most fans think about the question:
FERFreak731: Jokic is number 15 for the Nuggets.
E-Miles: New York probably will. The only reason Bernard King didn’t get his jersey with NY is that he only had 4 seasons. Melo was an all star for six years straight. Won the only playoff series for the team in the last 20 years.
FreeDaReal1z: New York think that man is MJ lol.
BrokenClxwn: He’s the GOAT, so why wouldn’t he?
staymelooo: I know he didn’t win enough in New York, but I think he should be retired. He’s the only superstar ever who willingly signed there and was ready to embrace the challenge. He did the best he could with some bad supporting casts and coaches, and that deserves to be recognized imo.
MapleCurryMurray: Yes, by us, but either he will be retired after Jokic with 15 or just his jersey and not his number will be on the rafters.
john0_0: They both should.
2Blitz: Jersey/number retirements should always be up to fans imo. If Denver fans want him retired, then they should. If they don’t, then I don’t think anyone should say otherwise. Same with New York.
MaxxJulie: I’m sure the Knicks will because it might be 30 years until the next one.
Warlord10: Nuggets won’t retire it while Jokic is playing (Same number, so it will have terrible optics) and even when Jokic retires, Jokic will have his retirement first.
therobotwithouthair: If he comes to the Knicks and he is a key rotation player to them making the 2nd round, then yes. Also could get retired by the Knicks if he is a key rotation player on two teams that make it to the 1st round of the playoffs twice. That would give him 5 playoff runs with the Knicks.
Melo gave his all to both teams but was unfortunately never able to win an NBA Championship with either of them.
Moreover, Anthony is a 10x NBA All-Star, 6x All-NBA, and 2012-13 NBA Scoring champion, but he was never able to win the MVP award or the DPOY. As a result, his chances of getting his jersey retired by the Knicks or the Nuggets seem really low for now.
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