Denver was the nearest city with a major sports team to my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. That made it easy for me to like the Denver Nuggets. I frequently would take visits up to Denver to visit relatives and have summer basketball training camps at the Gold Crown Center, which was the Nuggets Training Facility at the time. It would always be exciting just to be in the same city as some of my favorite NBA players.
Then in 2003, I got another reason to become a fan of the Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony got drafted after playing one year in Syracuse as one of the top college players in the country. I was always more of a Melo guy than a fan of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or even Kobe Bryant at the time, just because he played for the Nuggets.
Then just a few years later, in 2006, the Nuggets acquired one of my favorite basketball players of all time, The Answer, Allen Iverson. He was such a huge influence to my generation of hoopers. Having him paired with Anthony instantly made this my personal favorite Nugget team of all time. Though they never made it to the NBA finals, watching them battle prime Kobe in the playoffs was always entertaining and heartbreaking at the same time.
That encapsulated the Nugget fan experience. Denver was always an entertaining team, but they were never considered good enough to be a champion team.
After years and years of patiently waiting, watching the Nuggets repeatedly exit the playoffs, failing to reach the NBA Finals, I never would have thought that this was the year they would end their drought. The odds were stacked against the Nuggets from the start of the season.
Yes, we finally got Jamal Murray back but nobody comes back the same after a major injury, right? Nikola Jokic was even denied his third straight regular season NBA MVP award. The loaded Western Conference got even more firepower with Kevin Durant joining the Phoenix Suns just before the trade deadline.
While the rest of the league were focused on star-studded teams and blockbuster trades, the Nuggets kept their eyes on the prize. They ended the regular season at the top spot in the West, highlighting how impressive that the team managed to get key acquisitions while keeping everybody healthy, engaged, and committed to doing their roles throughout the entire NBA season. I didn’t see too much ego involved with this team, which is the perfect recipe for a dark horse team.
I can truly say that this was the best overall Nuggets team in franchise history because of the chemistry this team had. We have always had good individual talents and some groups that could play really well together at times. But something was always missing. That missing piece was indeed Nikola Jokic. This season, he embraced being the leader of this team and everyone followed his lead.
Jokic is only now entering his prime, and has every complementary piece he needs around him to get the job done. Murray has proven that he is indeed one of the top guards in the league, both before and after his injury. This playoff run definitely cemented that. After all has been said and done, we finally get to celebrate the team’s first Finals appearance and championship all in the same season. The Nuggets organization has done a tremendous job putting this team together and I only pray we can keep this core together to give this franchise a legit chance at dynasty status. The sky's the limit with this young group and until somebody else proves them wrong, the Nuggets will always be looked at as the team to beat.
This is a real dream come true for all Nuggets fans. It’s an exciting time for the city of Denver, which has been leveling up in all major sports as of the last decade. This is also a great moment for international players, seeing Jokic become the second international player in the last five years with at least two regular season MVPs, a championship, and a Finals MVP. The NBA is under a major identity shift and I believe this shift will be healthy for the NBA Global market overall.
This championship is definitely a special one to the Denver Nuggets faithful like myself. With all that has been said, for all the true Nuggets fans, old and new out, wear your jerseys and championship shirts proudly! Hang up your flags or posters. Post all over your social media pages, because, until somebody else takes it from us, this moment in NBA History belongs to the Mile High City.
The Denver Nuggets are the 2023 NBA Champions. I repeat, THE DENVER NUGGETS ARE THE 2023 NBA CHAMPIONS!
