The debate on whether the Denver Nuggets should retire the No.15 jersey for Carmelo Anthony or not continues, as Anthony was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend as a member of the Class of 2025.
However, according to 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, Melo’s teammate in Denver from 2008-11, the organization should have retired No.15 immediately after Anthony played his last NBA game.
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“They should have retired Melo’s jersey the year after he retired,” Billups told Andscape. “Once he retired, I said, ‘All right, cool. He’s done now. He won’t play another game. It is time.’ And so, to me, it is already too late. That should have been the first order of business in terms of retiring Melo’s jersey just because I know exactly what he meant to the organization.”
Melo turned the Nuggets around
Carmelo was the Nuggets’ No.3 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, and immediately after arriving in Mile High, he turned them from a team that missed eight consecutive postseasons to a perennial playoff team that, at one point, made the Western Conference Finals. However, Melo’s time there was cut short after he was traded to the New York Knicks in 2011.
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Anthony played six-plus seasons in the Big Apple and then ended his career with appearances for the OK Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Los Angeles Lakers. Among the six teams he played for in the NBA, his best body of work was in Denver, which is why many want his number to be retired there.
However, the Nuggets drafted Serbian center Nikola Jokic in 2014 and allowed him to wear Melo’s No.15. Unfortunately for Anthony, Jokic turned out to be a generational talent who has won three MVP awards and led the Nuggets to their first NBA title in 2023. Because of “Joker,” what was once a no-brainer for the Nuggets has become a debate.
Jokic has accomplished more with the No.15 jersey
While Billups did not explain what he meant by “It is already too late,” perhaps he was referring to the lost time because the Nuggets didn’t act right away. However, it could also mean that because the Nuggets did not act immediately, Jokic has done many great things since Melo retired, so you can make a stronger argument about retiring the number. 15 in his honor.
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Anthony played his last NBA game in April 2022. However, he did not officially retire until May 2023, one year later. Before the Nuggets could even consider retiring No.15 for Melo, Jokic led the Nuggets to their first-ever NBA title in 2023 and won his third MVP award that same year.
Right now, it’s almost a lock that Jokic will retire as No. 15. However, the Nuggets still have the option to retire both Jokic and Anthony as No.15s. That is absolutely possible, as the Portland Trail Blazers retired No.30 for Bobby Gross and Terry Porter. So why not Melo and Joker for the Nuggets, too?
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.