The Denver Nuggets were a threat in the Western Conference during the late 2000s. Solely because of one man, Carmelo Anthony. The 6-foot-7 forward was one of the best scoring stars in the game at that time and was making a name for himself. He battled against top players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Tracy McGrady. Against a few role players, he was a matchup nightmare.
Melo was drafted by the Nuggets in 2003 with the No. 3 pick. He quickly asserted himself as the best player by leading the team to the playoffs in his rookie year. Most fans even made a case for him being the rightful winner of the 2004 Rookie of the Year award over LeBron James.
Anthony spent eight years in Denver, averaging 24.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He also led the team to seven playoff appearances before he was traded to the New York Knicks in the 2010-11 season.
In the recent episode of the podcast “The Young Man and The Three,” French star Nicolas Batum named Anthony as his toughest matchup. Batum was specific and said that the Denver Nuggets’ version of Melo gave him a lot of problems as a defender.
“Denver Melo was crazy,” Batum said. “At the beginning of my career, I was young, skinny. My job — I was starting, but asked to guard the best opponent.
“Denver Melo, I would say, he had everything. He was strong, first. Just up, drives, threes, pull-up, iso, jab, turnaround, bully ball. Everything. I always say, he’s the toughest guy I had to guard in my career.”
Batum’s testimony was proof that Anthony was a problem whenever he had the ball in his hands. Especially when he was part of the Denver Nuggets, he was strong and athletic.
The Denver Nuggets could challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship
The Denver Nuggets haven’t made it deep into the playoffs since they won the NBA championship in 2023. Still, they’re among the teams that could challenge the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Last playoffs, they played against each other in the Western Conference semifinals. The seven-game series demonstrated the Nuggets’ continued competitiveness.
ESPN’s Tim Legler believes that the Nuggets could be a challenge to the title and give the Thunder serious competition.
“We didn’t view Denver as a legitimate contender, and I think that has changed. I think their off-season has made a lot of people believe that they might be, when it’s all said and done, maybe they’re the second team in the West,” Legler said.
“They took OKC to seven games, maybe they’re a legitimate challenger to beat the defending champions this year. If that’s the case and he puts up the same numbers, he absolutely still is in the mix.”
With the offseason moves the Nuggets made, they could be a threat to OKC.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
