Those of us in the building remember the days fondly. The Nuggets were finally good after years of struggling, and they had a superstar in the making in Carmelo Anthony. Melo remembers those years fondly, too. He's got a soft spot, like most of us Nuggets fans, for the team of the late mid-to late 2000's.
Melo sat down with D.J. Siddiqi to talk about the playoffs, but his light-hearted revelations about his Nuggets teams of the past are what caught our eye. Melo opened up to Siddiqi about his favorite teammates and how there was an element of "fun" in the game of basketball for them.
Asked if he had a soft spot for that Nuggets group, Melo replied, "Yeah, because it was fun. It was fun basketball, and that's the only way that I knew how to get together and have fun and bring everybody together."
The Melo Nuggets were a fun bunch to watch
Melo wasn't kidding about the fun. It was a vibe, and the fans in the Can, before it was the Jar, absorbed it and fed it back in. A couple of the teammates Melo mentioned he enjoyed playing with were J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin. J.R. Swish and K-Mart would have been perfect for this year's Nuggets squad.
The Nuggets lacked athleticism and physicality against the Timberwolves in their first-round playoff defeat, and these two brought them in droves. We'll never forget when the Nuggets took on the Timberwolves in game two of the 2004-05 season, and K-Mart got physical with Kevin Garnett in the uber-late overtime win. Yes, the Nuggets and Wolves were rivals with late-late nationally televised games back then, too.
It was Martin's second game as a Nugget, and after seeing the Wolves push the Nuggets around in the playoffs the season prior, it was a glorious sight to see an enforcer in action. The Nuggets needed a K-Mart this year.
Smith was electric at times. Streaky as could be, but when he was hot, he was hot. Smith torched the Kings in 2008-09 for a career-high 45 points on 11-18 shooting from three. And he could drive to the hoop, often getting to the rim and finishing with an acrobatic layup or poster-dunk.
Melo really enjoyed playing with Allen Iverson
Melo singled out Allen Iverson and J.R Smith as two of his favorite teammates to play with. And it makes sense that Iverson tops the list. AI's time in Denver was short, but it will always be remembered for the enthusiasm that the Nuggets, our former cellar-dwelling Nuggets, had tried to build a championship force.
The Nuggets didn't make it with Iverson, but he gave them attitude, and they reached the Western Conference Finals the following season after five consecutive first-round playoff exits. Of course, four more first-round exits followed, setting the Nuggets up for a few futile years as the team rebuilt and added Nikola Jokic.
But overall, this was a nice chance for Nuggets fans to take a walk down memory lane to some fond times. It's good to remember those times, because the good times don't last forever in the NBA.
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