Carmelo Anthony, now a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, reportedly paid the current Golden State Warriors‘ color analyst Kelenna Azubuike to wear number 7 for the New York Knicks.
Throughout college and during his first seven years in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, Anthony wore number 15, but when he arrived in New York, his former number was retired for Earl Monroe and Dick McGuire. In high school, ‘Melo’ sported number 22, so he turned his attention to obtaining that number instead. Unfortunately, number 22 was retired for Dave DeBusschere.
Anthony got creative and split the difference between the two numbers – 7. His son’s birthday is also March 7, so it all worked out. The only problem – Azubuike wore number 7 for the Knicks.
Azubuike knew a payday was coming his way, saying, “I’ve seen people pay people for jersey numbers, 50, 100 thousand, I’m thinking 20 racks minimum. And my boys are hyping me up and I walk in the next day and [Anthony] had a check for $3,000.”
Anthony earned over $56 million dollars during his time in Denver, and he decided to pay Azubuike $3,000 for his number. Of course, Azubuike was too afraid to anger ‘Melo,’ so he accepted the check and moved on.
Currently, Anthony wears number 00 for the Trail Blazers, but when he does finally decide to retire, it’s possible that the Knicks retire 7 in his honor.