We might have to get used to these Denver Nuggets title wins

That celebration that went on into the wee hours of Tuesday morning in Denver might very well be just the start of a few to come.

It’s hard, bordering on impossible, to repeat in any professional sports league in this day and age, but if anyone is set up to do so, it is the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets.

Not only does the team possess two of the elite players in the game, but its entire core is also still either in its prime or not there yet and signed for at least the next two years.

It’s why head coach Michael Malone, every time he was given a microphone post game whether it was on the floor in the minutes after the wild celebration began or after the fact in front of the media, was reminding everyone that one title would not be enough.

Nikola Jokic, the two-time MVP of the NBA and now first-time Finals MVP is 28. Jamal Murray, the Kitchener product and ninth Canadian to win an NBA title, turns 27 four days after Jokic celebrates his 29th birthday.

Michael Porter Jr. doesn’t turn 25 until later this month. Aaron Gordon turns 28 in September.

All are signed through 2024-25. Jokic and Porter Jr. are actually locked in through the next four years. Gordon has two years left on his deal and a player option for a third. Murray has two years left on his deal.

Beyond that the Nuggets have Christian Braun and Peyton Watson on rookie scale contracts and still cap room to perhaps bring back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who has a year left and a player option for 2024-25.

Barring injury – and that is always a concern – these Nuggets are set up nicely for a while. 

But that’s a conversation for another day. Let’s take a look back at the Nuggets thrilling Game 5 win that clinched its first ever NBA title:

SOMETIMES TALENT DOES TRUMP ALL

It doesn’t always work out this way but sometimes having the two best players in a series is enough to get the job done.

This is in no way meant to disparage the likes of Gordon or Porter Jr, Caldwell-Pope or any of the Denver reserves, but the duo of Jokic and Kitchener’s native son Murray began and ended the NBA playoffs as the difference makers.

In the fifth and, as it turned out, deciding game of the series, a 94-89 Denver win, Jokic would not be denied.

His fourth quarter was one of absolute defiance. The Heat, as physical and resilient as any team in the league threw everything they had at Jokic in that final frame with the game on the line to no avail. It didn’t matter which bodies or how many they threw at the two-time champion, Jokic muscled his way towards the basket and as soon as he was close enough put it in with the kind of soft touch most big men only dream about.

Jokic took six shots in that deciding fourth quarter and scored five times for 10 of his 28 points. For the game he was 12-of-16 from the field and the Nuggets, who had their worst shooting night of the entire Finals, needed every one of them.

His combination of intricate footwork and sheer brute strength got him between and around defenders and ultimately to a spot where he felt comfortable enough that the ball would actually find the bottom of the basket. On only the rarest occasion does a Jokic shot find iron and not roll in one way or the other.

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets celebrates with his daughter Ognjena after a 94-89 victory against the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2023 NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship at Ball Arena on June 12, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. Photo by Justin Edmonds /Getty Images

Whatever combination of Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Max Strus or Gabe Vincent came his way were quickly dispatched as the two-time league MVP went to work.

It was almost unfair how irrelevant Miami’s defence, as good as it was, became once the ball got into the big Serbian’s hands.

For his efforts Jokic now has an NBA Finals MVP award to add to the two league MVP’s he already has at home.

Post-game he was asked how it felt to be an NBA champion. In typical understated Jokic fashion he replied, “It’s good. It’s good. The job is done. We can go home now.”

And then there was Murray, the pride and joy of not just Kitchener but all of Canada.

Murray was the polar opposite to Jokic when it came to containing his emotions. He simply could not and who could blame him after a gruelling comeback from a torn ACL that cost him and many believe the Nuggets franchise an earlier season-ending championship celebration.

Were it not for Jokic’s consistent dominance, Murray would have owned the headlines throughout Denver’s run.

Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets speaks with media after a 94-89 victory against the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2023 NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship at Ball Arena on June 12, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

For the playoffs he averaged more than 20 points and 10 assists a game becoming just the fourth NBAer to do so. His name now joins LeBron James (twice), Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson (also twice) as the only players to reach those peaks in an NBA title year.

And in case anyone believes that accomplishment didn’t get it’s just due, check Vince Carter’s Twitter timeline in the aftermath of Denver’s Game 5 win. “Kitchener ….,” was all Carter tweeted in the perfect example of game recognizing game.

ONE MORE REASON TO LAUD JOKIC

There is so much to love about Nikola Jokic from the way he plays the game to the way he conducts himself. Both were on full display Tuesday night.

With the confetti dropping and every basketball fan in Colorado losing his or her mind, Jokic made a point of seeking out and shaking the hand of each and every one of his opponent’s while the Nuggets celebration got started.

Before he headed to the stands to celebrate with his family and those enormous brothers of his, the camera caught Jokic actually chasing down members of the Heat to congratulate them on a hard-fought series.

Too often those same cameras seek out and find the zany and often over-the-top celebrations that can make for good TV. But if you were paying attention, this was even better.

AND FINALLY

A plea we are stealing from Sportsnet’s Tim Micallef and countless others who have seen enough of this.

Yes, we get it. The owners pay the bills. They make it possible. But owners don’t win championships. Players win championships.

When the league commissioner – and we’re looking directly at you NBA and NFL – is brought out to present the championship trophy to a team, handing it to an owner deflates a celebration like nothing else. And on top of that it’s just wrong.

Please follow the lead of the NHL or the EPL or any other professional body that has already figured this out. The championship trophy needs to be presented to the people that earned it, not the individual that bought it.

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