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Carmelo Anthony is one of the most iconic Denver Nuggets players of all time, but he recently shared some frustrations about the team that drafted him third overall in 2003.

Reigning NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic now dons the no. 15 Denver uniform Anthony once did. Anthony called the franchise's decision to give Jokic the number "petty" during his podcast, 7PM in Brooklyn, on Thursday.

"It was a petty maneuver," Anthony said. "It wasn't like, 'Oh we got numbers to choose from.' It was like, 'Here, you got 15.'"

Anthony was a prolific scorer for nearly eight seasons with Denver and made three All-Star teams with the Nuggets before forcing his way to his hometown New York Knicks via trade. While Jokic wore 15 in Serbia before coming to the NBA, Anthony thinks management could've handed the big man his former number out of spite.

"And y'all put Jokic in the middle of that," Anthony said. "He don't know what the f--- going on. He could've been like, 'I want to wear 15.' He could've been like, 'I want to wear 15, 15 is here.' Oh, that's Melo's number. You know what I mean? Just pay homage. I don't know. He could've wore it because he wanted to pay homage. But what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did."

Anthony left Denver sitting third on the all-time scoring list with 13,970 points, but Jokic is right behind him with 13,023 points as a Nugget. The two-time NBA MVP also leads the franchise in rebounds (6,721), assists (4,307), double-doubles (408), and triple-doubles (116). 

Anthony left Denver in 2011. Anthony Randolph then wore No. 15 for the Nuggets in the 2013-14 season before Jokic joined the team for the 2015-16 season.

Jokic, 28, has a long career ahead of him and can continue to build his resume as the greatest Nugget ever in the coming seasons. The no. 15 jersey will almost certainly have his name on the back as opposed to Anthony's when it hangs from the rafters one day.

"I used to think about it. I don't think about the s--- no more, though," Anthony said. "'What's meant to be is meant to be."