Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:

NBA Insider

It looks like time is getting closer to healing another wound.

The rift between the Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony has been well-documented since the new Naismith Hall of Famer requested a trade to end his time in Denver back in 2011. He addressed the organization that drafted him with the third pick in the 2003 draft during his induction speech Saturday. After touching on the importance of each member of his immediate family and his one season at Syracuse, it was time to talk about the start of his professional career.

“I know everybody’s waiting on this next one,” Anthony started. “To the Denver Nuggets and the city of Denver, you believed in me first. You gave me the keys as a 19-year-old kid. You let me grow, fall, fly and become the man standing here today.”

The Nuggets celebrated the seven-plus seasons Anthony spent with a social media post that read “An icon of the game and now a Naismith Hall of Famer. Congrats, Melo.” Team president Josh Kroenke also sounded open to turning another page.

“Carmelo meant so many things to so many people at all levels of the organization,” Kroenke said in an Andscape story.

“To our fan base, I think he represented a shift in where the organization was at a certain point in time to a different era of incredibly competitive basketball. We made the playoffs every year he was here, had some great runs in there, to the Western Conference finals one year. He put Nuggets basketball back on the map in an incredibly positive way.”

Alex English, Dan Issel and Nikola Jokic are the only players who scored more points than Anthony in a Nuggets’ jersey, but he doesn’t have his jersey retired in Denver. Jokic currently wearing the No. 15 complicates the matter, but George Karl and Jeff Bzdelik, Anthony’s coaches with the Nuggets, told the Denver Gazette the team should retire Anthony’s number earlier this year.

Anthony, born in Brooklyn, had stronger words for his hometown. He spent parts of seven seasons with Knicks before concluding his 19-year career with the Trail Blazers, Thunder, Lakers and Rockets.

“You gave me more than a jersey. You gave me an identity from the lights of Madison Square Garden to the heartbeat of every borough. I felt that energy. I carried it. I became it,” Anthony said.

“I may have played around the league, but my soul will always echo 33rd and 7th. Once a Knick, always a Knick.”

Denver didn’t receive as strong of a tribute, but Anthony spent a small portion of his 15-minute speech appreciating the place where he found his footing in the league.

“Denver was where I learned the weight of the league, when I learned the value of sacrifice and the beauty of team,” Anthony said. “To every fan who filled the Pepsi Center (Ball Arena), thank you. To the Mile High City, you’ll always be a part of my foundation.”

What I’m Thinking

EuroBasket didn’t go exactly how Nuggets fans might’ve hoped, but they can breathe easily now.

Serbia is out of the tournament after being upset by Finland in the Round of 16, but at least Nikola Jokic avoided injury. Jokic did his part against Finland, recording 33 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in nearly 34 minutes of playing time. He made 9 of 13 shots and got to the line 19 times, but it wasn’t enough to get Serbia into a quarterfinal matchup with a Georgian team that managed to knock out another favorite in France.

Jonas Valanciunas is the only Nuggets player left in the tournament. Denver’s backup center scored nine points on five shots to help Lithuania beat Latvia. Lithuania might need more from Valanciunas to get past Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece for a spot in the semifinals. If not, at least the Nuggets centers will return stateside healthy for the start of training camp in the next few weeks. The Clippers weren’t so fortunate, as Bogdan Bogdanovic had to leave the tournament after suffering a hamstring injury.

As much as Nuggets fans would love seeing Jokic play in a few more win-or-go-home games, the risk outweighs the reward with the season less than two months away.

What I’m Following

• Jamal Murray’s making good use of his final weeks before returning to Denver. The Nuggets’ starting point guard put on a basketball camp to help grow the game in Jamaica, where his father, Roger, was born.

• A couple of the Nuggets are already back in Denver. Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson were at the Broncos’ season-opening win Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High. Watson also threw out the first pitch at a Rockies game last week.

• Oklahoma City’s rookies have had some tough injury luck the last two years ago. A year after Nikola Topic missed all of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, this year’s first-round pick, Thomas Sorber, suffered the same injury and is expected to miss all of the upcoming season.

• Dylan Harper, the second overall pick from this summer’s draft, might not be ready for opening night. Harper recently had surgery to repair a partially torn collateral ligament in his left thumb.

What They’re Saying

A former coach and some of Anthony’s Olympic teammates used to weekend to give him his flowers.

“He was so physical. It’s so unusual for a freshman to carry a team to a national championship,” Jim Boeheim, Anthony’s coach at Syracuse said. “He really took over in the Final Four.”

That included the first and fifth picks from the famous 2003 draft class.

“He has so much in his bag. … He can score anywhere in the gym,” Dwyane Wade said.

“Everything he did was just so smooth, so effortless. Melo is one of the clutchest players in our game.”

“His Hall of Fame jacket, this is just a byproduct of all the work and dedication,” LeBron James added. “You are forever immortalized.”