Carmelo Anthony’s Wedding to La La Anthony Sealed His NBA Trade Decision Against George Karl

By mid-2010, New York’s 40-year title famine had become a national headache, and the Knicks zeroed in on Carmelo Anthony as their cure. Denver’s reigning All-Star was angling for a fresh start—but the Knicks weren’t his only suitor. So, what convinced Melo to ultimately make the decision and set his mind on the New York Knicks, going against George Karl?

During the latest episode of 7PM In Brooklyn, the former NBA player shared that both the Lakers and Knicks were on his mind. Denver’s reigning All-Star was privately weighing multiple suitors, including the Lakers, who, as Melo revealed on The Why with Dwyane Wade had a “done deal” in place sending him and Nenê to L.A. for Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. Before Nuggets coach George Karl even broached Utah as an option. The Nuggets planned a rebuild at the samee time, much to Melo’s dismay. So he took this opportunity to urge the organization to work together to find a new destination for him.

When Melo first asked for a trade to New York, there was hesitation from the Nuggets due to depth concerns. “I said, there’s only one place I want to go to, and that’s New York,” he said on 7PM in Brooklyn. That moment came when coach George Karl pitched Utah as a landing spot. But that wasn’t Melo’s wish. While both the Lakers and Knicks were options, he hoped to go to the Knicks, where Amar’e Stoudemire had just joined, signing the deal in July 2010.

Dec 14, 2009; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony dribbles up the court in the first period against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

At his July 10, 2010, Cipriani-42nd Street wedding (where Amar’e Stoudemire had just inked his Knicks deal), every cheer for “Knicks! Knicks!” felt like an irresistible recruiting pitch. He recounted how people kept shouting New York at his wedding when he was still playing for the Nuggets. “My wedding, they was yelling in the wedding. I was still a Denver Nugget,” he shared. 

With Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” blasting and guests from LeBron James to Mike D’Antoni chanting the Knicks’ name under the glow of the Statue of Liberty skyline, Melo felt the city’s pull. “Me, you, Ray Felton. We wanted to do this since high school. We got a chance to do this in New York. That was our connection,” he recalled.

That was the beginning. However, Melo once recalled how Knicks owner James Dolan almost stopped the deal from happening.

Why did Carmelo Anthony think James Dolan almost risked his trade? 

Melo’s trade to the New York Knicks was a blockbuster one. However, the Knicks’ owner’s one mistake could have stopped it from happening. That is what Melo felt during the front office meeting held during the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend in L.A. In a segment of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, Melo recalled that Knicks owner Dolan gave the impression that he was well prepared for the meeting.

However, Melo quickly realized that wasn’t the case. Locked in a conference room with Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri, Dolan swaggered in clutching a purple folder that looked, at first glance, like the blueprint for acquiring a 10-time All-Star. Instead, according to Melo, only one page bore actual trade figures.

“Dolan came back with a purple envelope. There was one sheet in there that had numbers on it. It looked like some numbers that were just put together showing how we could really get this done. Basic spreadsheet. 101 spreadsheet,” Anthony said

Anthony admitted he feared Denver would smell the bluff and call it outright—”If they would have called his bluff on that s**t right then, I’d have been in Denver forever,” Anthony said. “If they would’ve called his f**king bluff, there wasn’t nothing in those folders. … And Dolan said, ‘You’ve taken everything. That’s all I have,’ and pulled his hands out of his pockets. That was a sick moment, man,” he laughed. Finall Dolan laid down the Knicks’ true offer: a package headlined by Chauncey Billups, a first-round pick, and salary filler that convinced Ujiri to greenlight the blockbuster.

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