The former ten-time NBA All-Star, Carmelo Anthony has recently revealed in one of the episodes of “The Why With Dwayne Wade” that he was looking for Darko Milicic and was searching for him in the gym in 2003.
Anthony shared with former three-time NBA champion and one of the most talented players of the league, Dwayne Wade and said via Fadeaway World, “As we hearing it about Darko, oh we shoot to Detroit. We got to go find where Darko was working out. We got to get to it D-Wade. We got to find him, man. Where they hiding him at? We going to work out with him. We pulling up. They was ducking, they was hiding. (I was told), ‘No, no he’s not in that gym.’ Bro, where’s he at?”
Even after more than two decades, Anthony still finds it hard to accept that Milicic was chosen as the second pickup in the first round by the Detroit Pistons which was before him. He also shared what happened after he learned that Milicic is working out with the Pistons.
Milicic had also shared his sentiments via Republika and said, “Where can you find me now, when I’m the strongest, ha-ha. Brother Carmelo is probably really high, he’s bored, I don’t know. He ended his career, as far as I know, where he remembered me just now. Enjoy life, man. I would tell him to relax, play some nice music and enjoy himself. I really didn’t hear that he ever asked for me.”
Anthony also further revealed that he wanted to find Milicic and was highly-interested in showing that he would be a better choice. He further revealed, “This kid is working out for Detroit Pistons, so somebody know where this kid is at. We gonna find him. We going to every gym… We want Darko. We want to work out.”
“To show I’m the No. 2, I might be the No. 1 pick is what I’m saying. So I gotta prove that… So yeah, I gotta find this guy. Wherever he is at, I gotta get to him, I got to play him, I got to show what time it is with these scouts.”
The Pistons were focussed on Milicic all the way however unfortunately the draft pick later came to be one of the big mistakes made by the Pistons squad. Milicic could not become the player the squad wanted and their dreams were halted; however, they won the 2004 NBA championship.
Milicic concluded his NBA career with 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. Anthony went on to become one of the best players of the league and his average was 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
If the Pistons picked Anthony the squad might have become one of the best squads in the league during that time but things did not go that way and Anthony was picked by the Denver Nuggets in the 2003 NBA Draft in the first round as the third overall pick.
