Tag / chauncey billups

The Atlantic Files episode 321 thumbnail
by Alex Fischbein

Illegal Poker Games and VJ Edgecombe Szn!

The NBA season is finally underway, and The Atlantic Files crew is back to break it all down! After the first full week of action, we’re delivering our Top 10 Power Rankings and diving deep into every Atlantic Division storyline that’s heating up early.

The New York Knicks have started strong at 2-1, and the vibes are sky-high in Madison Square Garden. Are the Philadelphia 76ers finally back to contender form, or are fans getting ahead of themselves? Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors are showing serious potential thanks to their promising young core — could this be the beginning of something big in the North?

On the flip side, the Brooklyn Nets are entering a tough rebuild that’s starting to look even uglier than expected, and we’re asking the hard questions about their direction. And in Boston, could this be a rare “gap year” for the Celtics, or are they simply pacing themselves for another deep playoff run?

We also react to the breaking news that’s shaking up the NBA world — a massive illegal gambling and poker scandal reportedly involving Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups, and Damon Jones. What does this mean for the league’s reputation, and how far could this investigation go?

Tune in for all that and more as we kick off another exciting NBA season with power rankings, hot takes, and in-depth analysis across the Atlantic Division and beyond!

🎧 Listen to Episode 321 now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Denver Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony, Nikola Jokic, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

The Nikola Jokic Denver Nuggets vs Carmelo Anthony’s Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are coming into the latest NBA season with high expectations. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and company look like a top-four team. They’ve also been rumored to bring back a familiar name in Carmelo Anthony. Remember the days when Carmelo Anthony was in the race for scoring titles while in Denver?

Of course, that got the gears moving. In the NBA atmosphere, we love comparing eras of basketball and different basketball players that probably shouldn’t be compared. So, we needed to debate who would win in a seven-game series between the current Denver Nuggets team and the Carmelo Anthony Nuggets that reached the Western Conference Finals in 2008-09.

Think back to the 2008-09 season for a minute. The Denver Nuggets traded away Allen Iverson after that failed experiment and they brought in the services of Chauncey Billups to run the offense. Billups, Carmelo Anthony, NenĂŞ, Kenyon Martin, and JR Smith all averaged double-digits in scoring for this squad.

Melo was only 24 years old and was putting up a stat line of 22.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 44.3% shooting from the field and 37.1% from three. Interestingly, this was the only season in a stretch of 11 seasons that he didn’t make the All-Star game. During that post-season, however, his stats boosted up to 27.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.

The team has two surefire Hall of Famers in Anthony and Billups. So, looking at the current team, it does seem like there’s only one player that is surefire Hall of Fame. Nikola Jokic is the one that obviously stands out, but does that necessarily mean the 2008-09 team is better?

Jokic has led the Nuggets in win shares every single season since 2015-16. This past season, Jokic had a historic year, especially for a big man, and grabbed his second MVP trophy in a row. He finished with averages of 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.5 steals on 58.3% shooting from the floor.

As a team, on the other hand, health has been a big problem. The second and third options of the team Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have failed to play more than 50 games in a season at the same time since the 2019-20 season. When they were healthy during that season, the team also reached the Western Conference Finals and coincidentally also lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Who do you think has the better team? Let us know in the comments of the video below!