Carmelo Anthony on Slam Cover

Six years into his NBA career, Carmelo Anthony is still only 25 years old, and he’s already fourth on the Nuggets’ all-time scoring list. Last season, with Chauncey Billups replacing Allen Iverson in the attack, the Nuggets became one of the most rabid defensive teams in the NBA. They tied a franchise record with 54 wins, and the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in two decades. Carmelo is the best player on a team that was two wins away from making the NBA Finals last year

Get the latest issue of Slam Magazine and you can read the article online by clicking here. Below is an excerpt of Slam Magazine 132

The last time Carmelo Anthony was on a solo SLAM cover was SLAM issue 105, back in the Winter of 2007. He was playing great, the Nuggets were looking up, and it seemed like it was time to highlight how he was finally growing up a little bit. The day we got copies of that issue into the SLAM office, the Nuggets were in NYC, so I went down to the Garden to give Melo a few copies. I had dinner plans that evening and couldn’t stay for the game, so I swung by for the pregame. Gave Melo some issues, caught up with him for a minute, told him to keep playing well so we’d look smart, and then I headed out for dinner. A few hours later, Carmelo punched Mardy Collins and got a 15 game suspension, just in time for SLAM 105 to hit newsstands.