I remember Chauncy Billups telling a story that if Melo had 30 points and they lost, he was happy. But, if he had 15 points and they won, he was upset. All you need to know right there.

Here's a summary of comments below in one sentence: Jokic wore 15 his entire life, he was drafted in the 2nd round during a Taco Bell commercial and the Nuggets had no idea Jokic was going to be a superstar, other Nuggets wore 15 after Melo left and Melo demanded to be traded to the Knicks.

Didn’t Melo force his way out of Denver?…why would they have loyalty to him?

Jokic wore 15 in Europe, it’s nothing new he’s wearing the number. Melo was a 3 time all star who forced his way out. Why are we even entertaining this

Kenyon was tripping lol. Saying Denver Melo needs his Jersey retired is like saying Minnesota Kevin Love needs his jersey retired.

In European basketball, it was typical for centers to wear numbers 11-15. Hence, Jokic wore that number before coming to NBA. Also, it is not like Melo left and Jokic came and took his number in the very next year. Forced drama.

Melo left Denver in 2011, after him number 15 was worn by Randolph, Jokic has been in Denver since 2015.

Jokic is the best Denver Nugget ever, there is no conversation to be had here lol

Black brothas are so weird about finding disrespect in the smallest things that aren't even true.

Melo's legacy is individual stats and being a ball hog. Jokic's legacy is already far superior to Melo's Denver " legacy ".

This is very sad. Carmelo looks like he regrets how he left Denver and wants a do over. Unfortunately that is not possible. Younger players need to look at this situation. Once your playing days are done, you don’t want to have any regrets.

MUCH RESPECT FOR GIL BEING REAL ABOUT NOT FINISHING HIS CAREER PROPERLY AND NOT HOLDING ONTO THE #0!!

Melo had the chance to be the unquestioned face of a franchise's entire history, but he took it for granted and now someone else seized that opportunity. It wasn't his fault that the West was full of monsters that he couldn't overcome, but it's not the organization's fault either because they built good teams around him. If he truly wanted to leave so he can win, there were tons of better choices than the Knicks, and that's before even taking into consideration all the assets Knicks had to give up to get him. The real reason Melo wanted to go there is so he and his wife can live a celebrity lifestyle. After leaving Melo got to see that the grass is not always greener elsewhere because he only made the playoffs once with the Knicks despite being an easier conference, plus the fans and team turned on him for not winning. Pettiness starts from Melo's side because not once have I ever heard him say anything thankful about his time in Denver, and even announced his retirement as soon as Nuggets clinched their Finals spot. K-Mart, Nene, Chauncey, J.R, Birdman, Camby, Iverson, Andre Miller and pretty much every other Nugget has shown appreciation about their time there despite not being drafted by them or even if they experienced more success elsewhere.

"Not this soon?" 🙄 Anthony Randolph wore Nuggets #15 from 2012 to 2014. Melo left in 2011. Jokic was drafted in 2014, arrived in US in 2015. So the claim is Denver played the long game and gave pick number 41, Jokic the #15 four years after Melo left and Randolph wore it for two seasons. But hey, why do 2 sec of research? Even without Randolph this was the whiniest, dumbest thing on internet thinking that a team waa counting on a 2nd rounder to erase the memory of an all star.

Giannis and Ray Allen both drafted by the Bucks share #34, however Giannis will be the player whos number is retired for the team. It is about the bigger legacy left upon the Franchise

STOLE melos legacy...is insane

Growing up in Yugoslavia, our team had numbers cowering positions, just like in Football, Soccer) 1 Golly, 2,3 Backs,4,5,6 defensive center halfs,7 right wing, 8,10 attacking midfielder, 9 Center forward 11 Left winger,13 reserve Golly and so on! 15 in basketball was Center,,1 playmaker guard, 5 Starting Center, but in 70s it became much less rigid!

he was drafted DURING A TACO BELL TV AD did anyone really expect him to be this good 😂

There is huge difference on Carmelo Anthony and Nikola Jokic. One was a first found draft pick, and he was an underachiever. The second was a second round pick, and he was an overachiever.

Jersey retirements should be for being pivotal in winning multiple chips, changing an entire franchise’s future/culture or for being an all time great. Let me know which one Melo was at Denver and I’ll get back to you with some empathy for him being in his feelings about something that in other sports is seen as the highest compliment.

No one knew jokic was gone be that great

Jokic legacy 10x better than Melos

This is like asking your ex girlfriend to keep your toothbrush at her house after you cheated on her. Melo ditched Denver. He wanted to leave. And he left.

You cannot leave a franchise on bad terms and think that they are going to honor you down the line. Also I dont think the Nuggets knew Jokic was going to turn into who he became. Also Melo gotta live with that cause Jokic delivered a chip!

Why is this only becoming a problem NOW? Yeah, it was "disrespectful" at the time it was done. But now, Jokic has a title, a Finals MVP and a 2 time MVP. He's played more games as a Nugget, he's now a bigger Nugget than Melo was. So.. they got it right? Let's face it, if you're the Nuggets and only one get number 15, you have to give it to the guy who got you a ship. It's like when they put Shaq in the top 50 players early. it was too soon, but they picked right.

No one is going to forget Carmelo Anthony just because of a jersey number. People need to grow up

The same Melo that ball hogged 7 straight seasons bringing Denver to 1 conference finals in that time ? The same Melo that demanded a trade out of Denver? If you 💩 on a team on your way out of the door is that same team obligated to “respect your legacy” down line ?

This whole thing is ridiculous. As Gil mentioned the nuggets couldn’t have possibly known he was going to be this great! He was a 2nd round pick meaning he had no expectations whatsoever. Also, if memory serves me correctly Melo asked to be traded from Denver and that’s how he ended up with the Knicks. He had his best years with the Knicks anyway and will be remembered more for being a Knick than he ever will with the Nuggets.

In case no one looked it up, Rick Mahorn was the last person with #4 for the Nets about 3 or 4 years before KMart came into the league. Mahorn did some good things with the Pistons, but no idea why the Nets would have held the number.

Did people remember that Melo wore #15 in Denver before he mentioned it? I didn't.

Maybe they did. But the way Melo left, he really can’t throw stones.

😂 Jokic put a ring on the 15, Melo never did DEAL WITH IT 😂

All due respect to Melo, one of my favorite players ever. But why the hell is this even a discussion? Melo left the franchise. Ok he made them relevant, kudos to him but Jokic got them a damn ring, you don’t get more relevant than that. He’s a 2 time MVP. And we’ve learned Jokic been wearing 15. Sorry Melo, maybe the Knicks will retire your jersey.

People gotta remember the time of the trade, Melo left on bad terms with the Nuggets. The Nuggets weren’t trash they were always competitive and they were in the process of trying to add talent around him. Melo wanted to go to NY no matter what, so I personally think they should’ve retired it because those years with the Nuggets were great years. BUT I also see why they didn’t retire it, you basically quit on us and no matter what we did you wanted to leave. So forget you basically lol you shouldn’t even have wanted your number retired with us.

Melo does not have a legacy to steal.

Melo one of my fav players growing up in Denver but he’s def reaching on this one. No one knew jokic would be this great. I get that he feels like the nuggets shouldn’t have given anyone that # out of respect but it’s a hard situation when melo forced his way out of Denver and left on bad terms.

Jokic has worn 15 most of his career..

If Melo wanted his number retired in Denver, he should have stayed in Denver and won a championship. Have nothing against Melo and actually was hoping Denver would do something to honor him, but this display of misguided bitterness makes it less likely.

Jokic wasn’t the only one to wear the 15

Nuggets DO NOT owe Melo and darn thing! He wanted to be traded! No one knew Jokic would become what he is today!

Listening to Kenyon Martin, one would think that Melo had Three-peat with the Nuggets.

Randolph wearing 15 and Melo didn’t have any issue at the time or even now. But now that Jokic is going to get it retired Melo has an issue with it. Melo did great things for Denver basketball but he’s a Knick and shouldn’t get his number retired regardless of Jokic.

He left the team 4 years earlier on bad terms and wasn't a guy who won them a title. You don't retire everybody's number. Secondly Jokic took that number because it's been his number his entire life.

Appreciate KMart standing up for his guys, both Melo and Sparky, but Melo knows the way he left spoiled any chance of having his jersey retired. Melo is entitled to be upset but Jokic is already the greatest Nugget ever and as simple indeed people always say, “it is what it is”.

cmon man he didn't do enough in Denver to have his shit taken outta circulation and while where on the subject shaqs 4 years in orlando wasn't enough to have his jersey retired either youre supposed to be a historical all time player for a franchise for that to happen like 10+ years and some chips if you wanna be in the rafters

2 players after Melo got the #. Nobody thought Joker was gonna be who he was. Stop it

There’s a bum on the Magic wearing Dwight Howard’s #12 right now but nobody has realized it

Im not arguing with whyte people or kids born after 2004. They the only ones who hate on Melo cause he black and carried the nuggets. But now that jokic is their skin color. They will highly praise him. Im happy he won us a championship but he didnt carry us from the jump. Took him 4 years to het us to the playoffs. He was not that good at first. Melo carried us from his rookie year! Thats the difference between them two. Both deserve 15 to be retired but 15 should have never been given to Jokic cause of melo legacy. But Denver was mad he left. Which I understand which makes Melo point right. They were petty

For the first time Gil said something solid....much respect. Melo doesn't have a point; he wanted out of that franchize from the moment he got there; he is trying to rain on Nikola's parade

2009 He coulda changed that if he beat the Lakers and then Celtics🤷‍♂️

It's good to have the opportunity to see K-mart on the reg. Big respect! The most embarrassing of all numbers is when LeBron wore 23 in Cleveland. They should have retired that number league wide. Nobody is MJ but MJ

Melo got more defensive about the number 15 than he ever played defense on the court.

I'm not even a Joker fan but Melo didn't win anything there he didn't deserve to have his # retired & Joker is the one that won there. Joker wasn't expected to be this great

melo wanted out of denver,,,,he forced a trade

Hey Joker do you wear 15 as an homage to Carmelo? “What’s a Carmelo? Is that candy bar?” Lmfao 🤣

Joker was wearing #15 in his country!!

For the record leaving Denver was Melo's idea. We were sick when he forced his was out, feeling was Melo was too big for our town. You make choices Melo, live with them. But we don't have to retire your jersey or put a statue up for you, and besides Jokic likes it here. Enjoy your millions, but don't be whiner. BTW, Bruce Brown is beloved in Denver, he had to get paid elsewhere...we get that.

Knicks did bad letting Randle get #30 and not retiring Bernard King

Jokic was a project player, no one knew hes going to be this great. They thought he was a longshot thats why they drafted him during a taco bell commercial.

magic gave no.1 when penny left, raptors gave no.15 when vince left, sonics gave no.40 when kemp left, sixers gave 34 when barkley left... dont know why they acting like teams dont give numbers of their former allstar players, especially if they didnt leave on good terms? if jokic didnt turn out to be the player he is, maybe down the line nuggets wouldve retired no.15 in honor of melo, but the way jokic turned out as a player its his number

If you force your way to get traded to another team you should have no say about your old number. Jokic won a chip in Denver of all places. Enough said.

They’re salty that Melo held em hostage to go to NY. Even though the nuggets won the trade

1st: As long as your number isn't retirered or planned to be retirered, you don't own shit. 2nd: "out of respect for Melo"??? Didn't he forced his way out? So why does he deserve this kind of respect he didn't shown himself for his franchise?

It sounds like these guys are more concerned about a Jersey number than about a player playing Team basketball. A phrase Melo was completely unfamiliar with.

Nahh we didn’t know jokic was gone be like this we wouldn’t had said nun if he was trash melo stop being salty

I wore no.23 in high school and everytime I saw someone wear the number I represented made me feel so good.

The look on Kenyon’s face when Gil said Melo had a better legacy with the Knicks then the nuggets lmao

2012/2013 and 2013/2014 Anthony Randolph wore #15 for the Nuggets. Stop it.

Gone be hard for Nuggets to retire Melo 15 w the way Joker playing

The had the opportunity to do with him what the Heat did with Hardaway and Mourning. They may not have won it all but they started the organization on the right path

Jokic best nuggets ever. Jeremy Lin, only Asian Knick superstar, Karma.

How tf is it disrespectful melo forced his way out of Denver. It’s not like he gave them a chip or something so why are the nuggets entitled to do anything for him besides a tribute and their not even entitled to do that😅. Melo was nice in Denver but no doubt jokic surpassed melo using the same jersey number he just butt hurt.

Well also Melo left in 2010 after a rough patch trade with denver, Jokic was drafted 4 years later , I think that's plenty of time

I remember reading a story years ago about how at his birthday event, his superstar friends were already making public jokes about teaming up on another team and when the GM was giving a speech and he jokes about them teaming up on the Nuggets, he got a cold reception. Basically shows how things ended with Carmelo in Denver. He never won anything, he wasn’t exceptional, they had a bad ending, so they owe him nothing.

Melo never won anything, anywhere. He Destroyed every team, every coaching staff, every organization he's ever played for. Don't why everyone love the guy so much.

Is everyone going to gloss over the fact that Anthony Rudolph wore No.15 for the Nuggets in 2014 before they drafted Jokic during a TB commercial?

Melo's legacy: inefficient iso ball hog team cancer playoff choker and a cone defensively

Bruh they literally gave 15 to Anthony Randolph before Joker. They gave it to a dude who got drafted during a Taco Bell commercial. They did not give a damn about trying to erase anything. Melo just has main character syndrome. Gtfo.

This is a reminder that no one owes you anything. Anything given after that be thankful and grateful. Even if the ending was sour

They really believe they thought a guy drafted during commercial would become this great?😭

Melo is still hated in Denver, Melo never took the time like Lebron to build back the relationship in Denver (Cleveland), he bail on Denver like a spoil brat. Melo is a Knick, if you want to retire his number you do it. He doesn't deserve shit in Denver.

SHEER ENTITLEMENT!! Kenyon IS NOT entitled to 4!! In fact, HE DOESN'T EVEN CARE about its "history/legacy/why he can't wear it". He's just mad HE can't get what HE wants!!!! He was a ONE TIME All Star. AS A NUMBER ONE PICK. So Jokic done CLEARED him too!!

Yall remember when Lin became the star over Melo in NY? Melo is one of my favorite players but i also know every year he played was like eminem releasing another album it just kept tarnishing his legacy and melo never helped himself out in any way anywhere he went truly a top 10 scorer but damn Melo this is a hard reality you gotta face.

If one’s legacy comes down to jersey number it’s not much of a legacy.

Melo DID NOT force his way out of Denver he was gone be a free agent and they DIDNT know if he was gone resign with them so they traded him for something instead of being left with nothing

Jokić is wearing #15 in Denver since he arrived, that is arround 10 years, question is why now is Mello upset.

If you demand a trade and you didn’t win a chip your number is not yours anymore

Melo was petty when Jeremy Lin was getting the attention at NY and now hes petty with Nicola with this? He forced himself out of Denver. Sorry Melo the world doesnt revolve around you.

When Melo left the Nuggets he didn't give a fuck what the franchise or Nuggets fans thought about him so this shouldn't matter.

Arenas is such a hypocrite. He said exactly the opposite thing went he was with Shannon Sharpe. What i see and hear here is a bunch of clowns acting like they know what they are talking about it.

Watching melo with the Knicks was cringy af highschool basketball IQ at best

Melo should be more upset about Jeremy Lin fans who try to blame him for Linsanity falling off. Instead of talking about teams figuring him out they love going with the jealousy narrative.

They can both even retire that #15. They were both great. Why not let the 2 great Nugget share retire that number?

y’all are so stupid u not giving a 2nd round pick a number that was supposed to be your franchise player.unless they knew jokic was a future 2x mvp

Melo chased the money and a random 2nd round pick become a legend. He simply missed an opportunity to get any jersey. Jokic didn’t care about any legacy, he asked for 15 and club gave him 15.

Dude is a two time MVP and Champion and used to wear 15. Get over it he left the team. Who cares if he was a 2nd round pick. What has Melo.done ? Won a scoring title and a couple first and 2nd teams. Jokic doesn't care about drama. When he said he used to wear it and it was available so he took it then thats the case with him.

melo just needs to think of it as jokic continuing his legacy not erasing it. everytime jokics numbers come up its a free ride for melo.

I always remember Melo as a Knicks, and Melo should stfu on Denver because Nuggets got a guy now that respect them, and love them, a guy that will deliver them into stardom.

Idk who it was but jokic wasn’t even the first player to wear 15 for Nuggets after melo left… Melo is my favorite baseball player ever but his take on this is an L. Gil is right Melo will always be more a Knick than a Nugget

even arenas is not defending melo but instead talk about facts, No freakin way nuggets gonna retire 15 for melo, jokic brought a chip and 2 season mvp, K-mart is too into how he feels please just stop.