Guest of the podcast “All The Smoke”, Carmelo Anthony returned to what will ultimately remain as the most glorious time of his career, his debut in Denver.
Scheduled to become a superstar after the 2003 Draft, from which LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade also came out, “Melo” instantly became his team’s “franchise player”.
He was even a major player in the league, and one of his most lethal offensive weapons, turning in nearly 29 points per game in the 2006/07 season, the best average in the entire NBA behind Kobe Bryant. For more than seven years, Carmelo Anthony thus lived his best years.
“I had never seen mountains, I had never seen snow-capped peaks. It was hard, but you could feel the energy there was in Denver ”, he recalled. “They just gave me the ball. ‘Your turn’. I was 19 when they did this. I wasn’t thinking of the pressure. I was just like, ‘This team is mine’. LeBron had Cleveland, D-Wade was in Miami, Chris Bosh was in Toronto, each had their own situation, their own team. I started out really well in Denver. We have made the playoffs for seven years in a row. The first year, LeBron failed to do so. I absolutely loved Denver ”.
The end of a rushed cycle?
So much so that he claims to have been pushed towards the exit by his leaders. Yet it was he who forced his departure for New York in 2011, where he joined Amar’e Stoudemire.
But he explains that the Nuggets forced his hand by not trying to keep the group that had managed to reach the conference final in 2009, then losing to the Lakers of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
“Contrary to popular belief, I never wanted to leave Denver. I never told people, but I never wanted to leave Denver ”, he says. “But they put my back to the wall. We’re making the final of the Western Conference in 2009, what are you supposed to do? Build on that, add players. But they got rid of Dahntay Jones, who was a key part of that team. They said, “We won’t re-sign Chauncey. We’re about to trade JR (Smith) ”, the K-Mart contract was ending and the lockout was coming? So I wasn’t ready to rebuild after being in the Western Conference Finals. I said, ‘I don’t want to leave, but if you want to rebuild, it’s time for me to go somewhere else.’ “
| Carmelo Anthony | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2003-04 | THE | 82 | 37 | 42.6 | 32.2 | 77.7 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 21.0 |
| 2004-05 | THE | 75 | 35 | 43.1 | 26.6 | 79.6 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 5.7 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 20.8 |
| 2005-06 | THE | 80 | 37 | 48.1 | 24.3 | 80.8 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 4.9 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 26.5 |
| 2006-07 | THE | 65 | 38 | 47.6 | 26.8 | 80.8 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 28.9 |
| 2007-08 | THE | 77 | 36 | 49.2 | 35.4 | 78.6 | 2.3 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 25.7 |
| 2008-09 | THE | 66 | 35 | 44.3 | 37.1 | 79.3 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 22.8 |
| 2009-10 | THE | 69 | 38 | 45.8 | 31.6 | 83.0 | 2.2 | 4.4 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 28.2 |
| 2010-11 * | All Teams | 77 | 36 | 45.5 | 37.8 | 83.8 | 1.5 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 25.6 |
| 2010-11 * | THE | 50 | 36 | 45.2 | 33.3 | 82.3 | 1.5 | 6.1 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 25.2 |
| 2010-11 * | NYK | 27 | 36 | 46.1 | 42.4 | 87.2 | 1.5 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 26.3 |
| 2011-12 | NYK | 55 | 34 | 43.0 | 33.5 | 80.4 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 22.6 |
| 2012-13 | NYK | 67 | 37 | 44.9 | 37.9 | 83.0 | 2.0 | 4.9 | 6.9 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 28.7 |
| 2013-14 | NYK | 77 | 39 | 45.2 | 40.2 | 84.8 | 1.9 | 6.2 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 27.4 |
| 2014-15 | NYK | 40 | 36 | 44.4 | 34.1 | 79.7 | 1.8 | 4.8 | 6.6 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 24.2 |
| 2015-16 | NYK | 72 | 35 | 43.4 | 33.9 | 82.9 | 1.4 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 21.9 |
| 2016-17 | NYK | 74 | 34 | 43.3 | 35.9 | 83.3 | 0.8 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 22.4 |
| 2017-18 | OKC | 78 | 32 | 40.4 | 35.7 | 76.7 | 0.9 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 16.2 |
| 2018-19 | HOU | 10 | 29 | 40.5 | 32.8 | 68.2 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 13.4 |
| 2019-20 | BY | 58 | 33 | 43.0 | 38.5 | 84.5 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 15.4 |
| 2020-21 | BY | 69 | 25 | 42.1 | 40.9 | 89.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 13.4 |
| Total | 1191 | 35 | 44.7 | 35.3 | 81.4 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 23.0 | |
