It was seven seasons ago that rookies Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James were cast as rivals. Now Anthony may make that rivalry come true.

“You can’t have a rivalry when you’re not even in the same conference, or when you only play each other twice,” Anthony said as he sat in the Nuggets’ players lounge after practice Wednesday. “That’s not a rivalry.”

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(SI)–That’s why talk of any such rivalry between Anthony and James has faded over the years. But that trend may be reversed over the month ahead should Anthony move to New York or New Jersey in a trade.

Should the Knicks or Nets succeed in dealing for Anthony before the Feb. 24 trade deadline, the grand prize winner will begin aiming for championship contention. Each team would need to make further roster upgrades before challenging the likes of Miami, Boston and Orlando, but Anthony’s arrival would be heralded as a crucial opening step whether he were to join with Amar’e Stoudemire or Brook Lopez.

James and Anthony missed a chance to meet here Thursday — a sprained ankle sidelined LeBron for Denver’s 130-102 rout as Carmelo scored 21 points in 30 minutes — yet their recent career decisions have been playing off one another.

James left Cleveland as a free agent last summer to form a title-worthy partnership with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. His move took Cleveland by surprise, and Cavaliers fans — as well as the franchise — have yet to recover.

Within days of James’ departure to Miami, Chris Paul was reportedly standing up at Anthony’s New York wedding and toasting the idea of someday moving with Anthony to the Knicks to form their own Big Three alongside Stoudemire. (Denver owner Stan Kroenke was in attendance, but the Nuggets vehemently deny reports that Kroenke was so angry at the wedding that he is now refusing to consider a potential trade of Anthony to the Knicks; they point out that Kroenke has been quoted as making jokes about the wedding toast.) While Cavs fans had reason to believe James would stay in Cleveland, Nuggets fans have been overwhelmed by six months of speculation and reporting on Anthony’s refusal to re-sign with Denver. The Nuggets are intent on moving him to avoid losing him for practically nothing, as happened to Cleveland when James left town.

James moved away from his hometown of Akron, while Anthony is seeking a move closer to his New York birthplace. No doubt he hopes that the country’s largest market could help raise his profile, along with the title ambitions of his new team’s owner, whether it’s James Dolan of the Knicks or Mikhail Prokhorov of the Nets.

The truth is that the process of moving in itself leads to more fame. The Decision transformed James from the NBA’s most talented player to his new role as the biggest newsmaker in American sports (unless you believe that title belongs to Tiger Woods). So, too, is the endless speculation of Anthony’s future creating more interest in him — interest that will follow him to his next home, where he will be welcomed as the East’s newest challenger.

“I would say me and Kobe [Bryant] probably have more of a rivalry than me and LeBron,” Anthony insisted this week. “Just for the simple fact that we’re in the same conference and we’re trying to beat each other to play against the best over there [in the East]. So I would say me and him have a rivalry more than me and LeBron do.”

But here’s the end game: When James and Anthony entered the league together in 2003, they were viewed as rivals based on their potential. Should Anthony move to the Knicks or Nets, that potential will be realized. Clashing with his friend LeBron doesn’t appear to rank among Anthony’s priorities at the moment, but for the casual fan it may turn out to be the most interesting outcome of this ongoing drama.