The two cities may be a combined 4,665 miles from New York, and their teams may play in different conferences, but Denver and Seattle each have sports history with the Big Apple beyond hosting them in Super Bowl XLVIII:
Carmelo Anthony trade
Nearing free agency and unwilling to commit to re-signing with Denver, Anthony was the center of constant trade talk for the first half of the 2010-11 season, making him public enemy No. 1 with some Nuggets fans. Finally, on Feb. 22, 2011, he was sent to the Knicks in exchange for several players — including Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov — and draft picks, one of which is a 2014 first-rounder. The Nuggets appear to be doing just fine without Anthony, however, as they finished last season with 57 wins and are off to a better start than the Knicks in the 2013-14 season.
Knicks-Nuggets brawl
It may not have been Malice at the Palace, but when the Knicks and Nuggets squared off on Dec. 16, 2006, at the Garden, it resulted in seven players suspended a total of 47 games. A pair of current Knicks — Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith — were prominently involved on the Denver side. After being fouled hard on a fast break late in the game, Smith got tangled up with Mardy Collins, who fouled him, and Nate Robinson, who Smith tackled into a row of photographers. As the fight was coming to an end, Anthony took a swing at Collins, leading to Knicks players chasing Anthony back to the Nuggets bench. Anthony received the largest suspension (15 games), while Smith and Robinson were each hit with 10 games.
Robinson Cano signing
The Yankees second baseman cashing in with a $252 million deal this offseason wasn’t the surprise — the fact it came with the Mariners was. Cano became the biggest homegrown Yankees star to bolt in free agency and cash in elsewhere, just as Alex Rodriguez would do twice in New York (following a brief stop in Texas) after starting his career in Seattle. “I didn’t feel respect,” Cano said of the Yankees. “I didn’t get any respect. I didn’t see any effort. We never got to the point where there was close commitment to anything.” Several former Mariners players have wound up in pinstripes, including Tino Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki and Randy Johnson.
Yankees-Mariners 1995 ALDS
The first year of baseball’s wild-card format was a memorable one, with the Yankees and Mariners needing a deciding fifth game in Seattle. Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr. helped force extra innings, but the Mariners trailed by one in the 11th after a Randy Velarde RBI single. But with a runner on third and Griffey on first, Edgar Martinez’s double down the left-field line brought Griffey home to win the series and set off a wild celebration in the Kingdome.
Yankees-Mariners 2001 ALCS
One season removed from losing to the Yankees in the 2000 ALCS, the Mariners had won an AL-record 116 games in the 2001 regular season and appeared destined for the World Series. However, the Yankees were playing for New York just one month removed from the Sept. 11 attacks and had rallied in dramatic fashion, down 2-0, to beat the A’s in the ALDS. The ALCS was never in doubt after the Yankees took the first two games in Safeco Field, then finished off Seattle in five games to advance to the World Series and end the Mariners’ record-setting season in disappointment.
Super Bowl XXI
The Giants entered the Super Bowl seeking their first NFL title since 1956, while John Elway’s Broncos were searching for their first championship. It would be Phil Simms, not Elway, who stole the quarterback spotlight, however, as his 22-for-25 performance set a Super Bowl record and helped the heavily favored Giants post 30 second-half points en route to a 39-20 win, the first of two championships in the Hall of Fame career of coach Bill Parcells. Denver would lose four Super Bowls before finally breaking through.
Patrick Ewing trade
The Carmelo Anthony deal wasn’t the first time a superstar was dealt between New York and Seattle/Denver. In the case of Ewing, however, it was a superstar whose best days were behind him. After 15 seasons in New York and coming off a loss to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks sent the 37-year-old center to Seattle on Sept. 20, 2000, for a package of draft picks and players. Ewing would play just one season with the SuperSonics, scoring 13.0 points a game, before joining Orlando for one final season.
1998 AFC Championship Game
Bidding to reach their second Super Bowl in franchise history, the Jets grabbed a 10-0 third-quarter lead on the top-seeded Broncos at Mile High Stadium. But things went disastrously afterwards, as Denver reeled off the afternoon’s final 23 points to end the Jets’ season. The Broncos went on to win their second straight Super Bowl (beating the Falcons), while the Jets returned to the conference championship game two more times in 2010 and 2011 — but lost both.
Devils-Avalanche
Sure, the Devils are in New Jersey, but MetLife Stadium is too, so just go with it. The Devils were the Colorado Rockies from 1976-1982 before relocating to New Jersey, leaving Denver without an NHL franchise until the Avalanche arrived in 1995. The two franchises squared off in the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Avalanche winning in seven games.