Back in early 2011, Carmelo Anthony joined the New York Knicks after being traded by the Denver Nuggets. After seven years of failure to win a title in Denver since getting drafted in 2003, Anthony felt the need to move on and try to reach his goals somewhere else.
Ultimately, after seven seasons with the Knicks, Melo once again failed to capture the illustrious NBA championship. However, in a recent episode of Anthony’s podcast, “7PM in Brooklyn”, the NBA legend believes his Knicks would’ve won a title with a current 11-time All-Star.
Carmelo Anthony Would’ve Won Multiple Rings
In 2009, the Knicks had the eighth pick in that year’s NBA draft. One of the most prominent names in that draft class was Stephen Curry.
Leading up to the draft, both the Knicks and Curry wanted to work together; however, the Golden State Warriors, who had the seventh pick, ultimately drafted the young guard. New York missed out big time on what could’ve been multiple championship runs.
Six years after getting drafted in 2009, Curry won his first title in 2015 with the Warriors. By that time, Steph was already a two-time All-Star and had won his first MVP award in the same year.
Hypothetically, if the Knicks drafted Curry in 2009 and his career ended up with the same trajectory, there’s a huge possibility Anthony would’ve won several titles.
Looking back at Melo’s run in New York, he played from 2011-2016. Based on Curry’s career trajectory, Anthony and the Knicks should be guaranteed one title in 2015. Even the NBA legend himself knows that they could’ve won multiple rings had Curry joined the Knicks.
“In ’09, if he’s drafted by the Knicks, then they have their centrepiece,” Anthony said on his podcast. “They have their corner piece of the organization. But mind you, nobody knew Steph was going to be this Steph. … Everybody was counting him out those first couple years. … By that time (2013), we here now (Stephen Curry gets healthy). … We winnin’ a championship.”
“We winnin’ the championship.”
IF Steph Curry was drafted by the Knicks, Melo believes they woulda won NBA titles together 👀 pic.twitter.com/yKElaVOeCS
— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) December 8, 2025
While there might be some truth to Anthony’s theory, they’d still be facing one of the biggest challenges in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James. In 2013, when Curry overcame his injury problems, James was still the best player in the East, winning titles with the Miami Heat.
Having that in mind, Anthony’s hypothetical championship run would still be a huge what-if, given that James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were still the alphas of the East.
