Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets don’t really talk.

In the 14 years since Anthony bolted from the medium-sized Colorado Front Range for New York City’s bustling metropolis, Anthony and the Nuggets haven’t been on the same page. They’ve seldom even acknowledged each other in public. Both parties are filled with righteous pride about what actually happened in their high-profile separation. Both believe they’re owed something. Both, for all intents and purposes, are right to be frustrated with the other.

But it’s time for everyone to grow up.

It’s time for Anthony and the Nuggets to set their petty differences aside and squash their long-standing beef. We’re all mature adults, right? Even when the inherent egotism of professional sports is involved, we should be able to focus on the big picture and what actually matters, no?

During Anthony’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction over the weekend, he took the first step to mend fences in his acceptance speech.

Anthony acknowledged how the Nuggets took him in as a phenom out of Syracuse. He thanked them for letting him be the electric powder-blue-wearing face of a franchise that was dormant before he arrived in the early 2000s. He credited them for helping him grow into the mature player who would eventually earn 10 All-Star selections and six All-NBA picks while carrying the weight of an organization on his shoulders.

Effectively, Anthony gave the Nuggets what they’ve long thought they were overdue for.

This was probably the biggest olive branch Anthony has extended to his old team since his controversial departure. The significance of this gesture, in the most important celebratory moment of Anthony’s basketball life, is not lost on me:

To the Nuggets’ credit, they didn’t outright ignore Anthony’s crowning achievement.

It’s small in the grand scheme of this passive-aggressive feud, but the team’s social media coverage was all over Anthony strutting into Springfield from every possible angle. This was the bare minimum the Nuggets should’ve done for Anthony as he got immortalized forever into the history of this beautiful, free-flowing game with an orange ball.

Rest assured: they wouldn’t have even done this in the past.

Now it’s time for Nuggets leadership to stop wasting time and return Anthony’s graciousness in kind.

At some point this season, it’d be awesome to see Kroenke family ownership invite Anthony out to a home game. Make an elaborate night out of it. Perhaps schedule it on the same evening when the Nuggets are matched up against one of their classic rivals, like the Los Angeles Lakers. Give Anthony a glitzy halftime ceremony of sorts, where you give him the platform to speak to Nuggets fans before retiring his jersey. In what I’m sure will irritate Nuggets fans who felt abandoned by Anthony initially, come to the compromise that the No. 15 will be going up into Denver’s rafters twice.

Once for Anthony. And once for Nikola Jokić, the legendary three-time MVP who was only able to build off the foundation Anthony originally established to finally transform the Nuggets into one of the NBA’s must-see franchises. It’s only right.

I know it hurt when Anthony ditched the Nuggets for the Big City without much hesitation. I know it also cut deep when the Nuggets seldom made any effort to credit Anthony for putting Denver back on the NBA map over the years. It’s that shared, weirdly similar pain that should make Anthony and the Nuggets realize how important they were and remain to each other. They will forever be connected. The mere fact that anything in their fight hurt or stung should be a sign.

It’s all water under the bridge now. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Anthony and the Nuggets were always better together. Here’s hoping they finally see the forest for the trees.

EuroBasket turned upside down

We’ve talked about EuroBasket in this space before, where I urged everyone to back Nikola Jokić’s Serbia.

Uh, about that. I’m back again to remind everyone about how volatile international basketball can be.

This past weekend saw both Serbia and France, two of EuroBasket 2025’s pre-tournament favorites, fall in the round of 16. For posterity, that’s the second and fourth-ranked men’s teams in the world (per FIBA), respectively, not even making it to Europe’s final eight teams. And between Finland and Georgia, both nations didn’t lose to powerhouses by any means. On paper, these were HUGE upsets!

So, I’m not sure what to expect moving forward in the tournament. I want to bet comfortably on Germany’s machine-like efficiency leading to the European title. But nothing is guaranteed when every stage of the knockout round is single-elimination. As we all know stateside, anything can happen in a Game 7-type environment.

Prepare yourselves, dearest readers. A European championship might be decided between Luka Dončić’s Slovenia and (throws dart at board without looking) … Lithuania? Sure, let’s go with that.

Shootaround

This was Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.