Exclusive: NBA legend Carmelo Anthony talks Knicks, Thunder, Wemby and Nuggets memories

By D.J. Siddiqi

If there's anyone that knows basketball, it's Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony is one of the most prominent basketball figures over the past two decades, emerging as a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA team selection during his 19 seasons in the league.

Anthony is a few years removed from playing in the NBA, but he keeps busy as an analyst for NBC and Peacock's coverage of the league.

He sat down for a one-on-one interview with Casino.ca to talk about a number of key topics, including Victor Wembanyama's dominance, the Knicks finding their identity and why he's not worried that the Oklahoma City Thunder struggled against the San Antonio Spurs during the regular season.

Q: I want to talk specifically about Victor Wembanyama. He's been putting up record numbers early on in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. What is the key to stopping Wemby? Is there a way to do that as a defense?

Anthony: “I don't think there's a way you can stop Wemby. I don't think you can stop anybody or any great player in the NBA -- you can't stop them. What you can do is you can try to make it tough on them. You can show them different schemes. You can be physical. You can move them around. You can have them chasing guys off screens. That's the only way you can try to get away from Wemby.”

"You can't get away from him. It's impossible. The man, his agility is top level. His speed is top level. It's very hard. You got to try to put him in misdirections and screens and make him chase people around and make them switch. But can you do that for 48 minutes?”

Q: Like you're saying, you can't stop him, but you can make him as uncomfortable as possible to give yourself the best chance of winning?

Anthony: “That's the only thing you can do. Yes, absolutely.”

Q: When you look at the West, people mention the Thunder-Spurs as the likely Western Conference Finals matchup. What is your NBA Finals pick?

Anthony: “NBA Finals pick, that's kind of tough. I'll tell you what though. Whoever it is, they're really gonna have to come play. They have to beat OKC because OKC is a tough check all across the board. They play with a fast pace. They slow the game down. They pick on mismatches. They defend at a high level. They have multiple identities as a team, so you don't know which identity you're going to get on any given night. It's a tough check.”

Q: It seems like what you're saying is you still think OKC is probably the team to beat until beaten.

Anthony: “Well, nobody has done it. They're still the champs, so nobody has done it. So yeah, they are the team to beat. And whoever gets there better be ready to go.”

Q: Does it worry you that OKC struggled against the Spurs in the regular season?

Anthony: “Regular season doesn't mean anything right now. It's a different brand of basketball. I know people want to put one up against the other, but it's a different brand of basketball. Nobody's even thinking about regular season once you're in the playoffs.”

Q: If they match up in the Western Conference Finals, it's going to be a completely different game. Those regular season games don't mean anything?

Anthony: “It's a good conversation. It's a good backdrop to talk over and talk about, but those are two different teams. Those are two completely different teams. Jalen Williams is out and OKC is (still) doing it. We're gonna see. I'm excited to watch it.”

Q: The Knicks are coming up big in key moments this postseason. Could they win the championship this year?

Anthony: “They found their identity, they're playing great basketball at the right time and everybody is happy. Right now, they should be the favorite in the Eastern Conference.”

Q: Who's the best defender in the NBA right now?

Anthony: “Wemby is the best -- that's the answer. Who do I like as a defender? I like Jaden McDaniels. I think he gets the job done on both ends of the court, but especially defensively, he gets the job done.”

Q: I'll ask you a few fun questions as we start wrapping things up. The first one, who were your favorite teammates during your NBA career?

Anthony: “I had a lot of teammates. I don't know man, it's hard, man. Every year it was different. Guys that were with me for years, like J.R. Smith, the Kenyon Martins, Marcus Camby. Andre Miller was a really good teammate. The guys who were in Denver, we all had a really good relationship, really good vibe, because we grew together. AI was one of my favorite teammates. Chauncey Billups was one of my favorite teammates.

“That's only out there in Denver, then you come to New York and it's like we're all teammates, we're all good. We're gonna make this thing right. It's kind of hard to say. There's more players that I've had longer tenured relationships, deeper relationships than others.”

Q: It seems like you have a soft spot for the Nuggets. They had a lot of good players like Nene, Marcus Camby, Andre Miller, Voshon Lenard, Chris Andersen, Earl Boykins. You guys were really tight knit back then in the 2000s, right?

Anthony: “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. Those guys showed me that, and I learned from the veterans that were doing that. I was young, I was following their lead, even though I had the keys to the organization. To say I was following their lead, I would do what I do on the court, and then I would learn from those guys.”

Q: So all of your Nuggets teammates from the 2000s.

Anthony: “No. If you're talking about somebody (specifically), I would say A.I. (Allen Iverson) J.R. Smith, Amar'e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert, Raymond Felton. That was the group.”