Getty Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks attempts to dribble around Wilson Chandler #21 of the Denver Nuggets in the first half at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2014 in New York City.
NBA 2K’s digital marketing director Ronnie Singh, more known as “Ronnie 2K,” thinks Carmelo Anthony is best remembered for his time with the New York Knicks than the Denver Nuggets.
“I’ve gotta say he’s more of a Knick … only because it was his prime,” Singh said on the September 6 episode of The Hoop Chat with Emily Austin. “When you think of the greatest Knicks players of all time, you think of him.”
“I think when you think of Denver, I don’t know. By the end of his career, it probably will be [Nikola Jokic]. I’ve got to think of [Anthony] as a Knick because New York is the biggest [NBA market], it’s the basketball Mecca of the world, and he is probably the greatest player in Knicks history outside of maybe Bernard King or a couple of people like Allan Houston.”
Anthony, who announced his retirement in May, spent his first seven-and-a-half seasons in Denver as the third overall pick of the famous 2023 NBA Draft Class headlined by LeBron James. Anthony instantly transformed the Nuggets into a perennial playoff contender that peaked with a Western Conference Finals appearance in the 2008-09 season, their first since 1985.
On the other hand, Anthony only won one playoff series in New York in six-and-half seasons. But he earned six of his 10 NBA All-Star berths with the Knicks and left the franchise seventh all-time in scoring with 10,186 points. He also holds the most points in a single Knicks game, a career-high 62 points against Charlotte in 2014.
Anthony is currently in Manila, Philippines, succeeding the late Kobe Bryant as the FIBA World Cup ambassador.
Knicks Stash Pick Continues Impressive World Cup Run
Rokas Jokubaitis nearly finished with a double-double (eight points, eight assists) as he quarterbacked Lithuania to a masterful 100-84 victory over the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia on Thursday.
Lithuania advanced to the battle for fifth place against Latvia on Saturday.
Jokubaitis, the 34th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Knicks on a Draft night trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite his stellar World Cup run, the Knicks are not expected to bring him to the NBA next season.
The 22-year-old Lithuanian point guard is scheduled to play for Barcelona anew in the Euroleague, where he won the Rising Star award in 2022. He also helped Barcelona win the Spanish Cup title in the same year and was subsequently named to the Spanish League All-Young Players Team.
Knicks Made Underwhelming Offer for James Harden
initially engaged the Philadelphia 76ers in trade talks surrounding James Harden, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
But it didn’t prosper, as the Knicks made an underwhelming offer.
“[Daryl Morey] said he would make a good faith effort to trade Harden and had initial conversations, league sources said, with Harden’s preferred team, the Clippers, as well as the New York Knicks.
But by mid-August, it became clear none of the teams that expressed interest in Harden had any intention of giving Morey the kind of return he was looking for — namely, a player or assets to keep the team in championship contention. On Aug. 12, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Philadelphia decided to end talks with the Clippers and expected Harden to report to training camp,” Shelburne wrote.
The Knicks are monitoring Harden’s situation in Philadelphia as it could impact their superstar target Joel Embiid‘s future.