Former Nuggets head coach George Karl has campaigned for the team to retire No. 15 in honor of Nikola Jokic and Carmelo Anthony. 

“I believe they’ll both have their numbers retired sometime… The No. 15 up there wouldn’t concern me one bit… I believe they will both retire at some point.

Karl also stated that Carmelo deserved to have his jersey retired because his draft marked the beginning of a new era for the Nuggets, which led to Jokic’s draft and forever changed the organization.

Unfortunately, it does not make sense for the Nuggets to value Jokic and Melo equally when their contributions to the team are so vastly different. If Jokic was only a top player for Denver, the explanation would be easier to understand. But Jokic is by far the greatest player in club history, and retiring his number for someone else may be disrespectful.

Carmelo helped Denver put itself on the map in the 2000s, but does that merit a retired jersey? They never advanced past the Conference Finals with Carmelo, and he forced his way out of the franchise, both of which are not achievements worthy of a retired uniform.

Carmelo Anthony believes the Nuggets gave Jokic No. 15 to spite him.

Nikola Jokic has gone on to become the best player in Nuggets history, and no one comes close to him. However, he entered the league as a second-round draft pick and was assigned the number 15 shortly after Anthony’s departure. Giving Anthony’s jersey number to a second-round pick irritated him, and he believes the move was motivated by spite.

“It was a petty maneuver.” It wasn’t like, “Oh, we have numbers to choose from.” It was like, ‘Here, you got 15.’ And you put Jokic in the middle of it. He has no idea what the heck is going on. He could have worn it to pay honor… but I assume they gave him 15 to try to undo what I did. I used to think about it. But I don’t think about that stuff anymore.”

Regardless of the motivation for the trade, Jokic has accomplished more in that jersey than Anthony ever did. It makes no sense to belittle Jokic’s accomplishments by also retiring Anthony’s jersey when they share the same number. We never see the same number retired for two players, and the fact that Jokic was handed No. 15 as a second-round choice demonstrates how the Nuggets value Anthony.

Jokic has also said that he has always preferred to wear No. 15 rather than being compelled by Denver to do so.

Carmelo averaged 24.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists during his tenure with the Nuggets, while Jokic averaged 20.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.9 assists. Anthony won scoring titles and was named to the All-Star and All-NBA teams. 

Last season, Jokic won two league MVPs and the Finals MVP as the team claimed its first title. Putting the two players on the same level is absurd, and it would never happen in any other team, but fans are emotionally invested in Carmelo.

Teams like the Raptors never retired Vince Carter’s number, and his impact on the city and franchise far outweighed Anthony’s in Denver. Jersey retirements are earned, and it’s easy to argue that Jokic deserves the honor of wearing No. 15 more than Anthony ever did.