“If I had to wear something else, I guess I would deal with it, but I’ve been wearing Nikes since I was a little kid.” Carmelo Anthony made it clear that his loyalty was to the Swoosh when he signed a record-breaking deal. Ultimately, he became the face of the Michael Jordan brand, and his first signature shoe was a crowd favorite. At the time, the Melo 1.5 was competing against LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and interestingly, ‘His Airness’ himself.

Speaking about the success of the shoe, Melo recently asserted, “It broke them all” on his podcast. The topic of sneakers was first initiated by a guest on the show, Hasan Minhaj. Carmelo Anthony also recalled that he knew the shoe created a lot of news and resonated with a lot of people, but never reflected on how actually the sneaker was doing in comparison with other athletes.

The award-winning comedian and writer was excited to discuss the impact of the shoes and said, “This shoe was in rotation.” He meant that the ex-Nuggets star’s first signature collection was selling like hotcakes. The 10x All-Star also explained the genesis of Melo 1.5. ” Yeah, so that shoe, that was like new innovation right there. That was like new energy moving forward. Like we pushing the Jordan brand, we taking what it was and we pushing forward.”

The Jordan Brand, in 2024, hit the $7 Billion mark in revenue. Reportedly, the Chicago Bulls legend earns 5% in royalties, thus effectively earning $350 million. Even though Nike’s revenue was down, the retro sneakers pushed MJ’s brand to the next level. That’s why, even back in the day, Carmelo Anthony was given a huge contract.

The Syracuse graduate signed reportedly $40 million for six seasons, and only two other rookies got a bigger deal than him. In terms of bigger guaranteed money, Allen Iverson’s $60 million from Reebok in 1996 and Vince Carter’s $50 million from PUMA in 1998, but both were 10-year deals as per Boardroom. Hence, he had more profitable year-by-year earnings.

No questioning why Melo is hoping for another run and asked the audience to make a plea on his behalf earlier this year.

Carmelo Anthony urges Michael Jordan’s brand to run it back

“To come out with a powder blue, Denver Nugget blue 1.5 and that colour has never been sold anywhere else. People was looking at me like ‘what the hell is this?‘” Carmelo Anthony said in March via 7PM in Brooklyn. As per Melo, that was the difference maker since the majority of the sneakers were black.

“But it hit and the fact that it hit the way that it did and it wasn’t a black pair, it was a powder blue and white, that was hard to sell in 2004 when we released them, so I would say my Melo 1.5 is a staple of really the beginning and the genesis of everything that I had going on.”

That’s why the Michael Jordan Brand and Carmelo Anthony had a fruitful partnership with 13 signature shoes. Anthony and co-host Mero then made their case for the signature line to get some retro releases. Melo encouraged fans to campaign on his behalf, “been telling them for years.” After all, it’s the fifth-longest partnership in NBA history, trailing only Michael Jordan (32 models), Kobe Bryant (17, across Nike and Adidas), LeBron James (15), and Allen Iverson (14), ESPN reported in 2017. Only time will tell if we get some reimagining for the Melos, just like Nike is doing for the Kobes.