DENVER — Jeff Green didn’t wait 16 seasons to come up with a show just because… well, wait.
So when the fire engine he was riding in temporarily stopped at the intersection of 17th and Lawrence Streets in downtown Denver, Green jumped down and charged into the crowd. He’s joined by fellow veterans Ish Smith and DeAndre Jordan, who waited 15 and 13 seasons, respectively, to be part of a championship celebration like the one that gripped the city on Thursday.
“Just me and 500,000 of my best friends,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told a reporter from the team’s broadcast network atop his towering truck.
As Green made his way to greet the fans lining the parade route, someone threw a Nuggets jersey number 32 his way and asked for an autograph.
“How are you going to throw me a shirt without a tag?!” Green said with a smile.
Someone quickly swiped a forward sign. Green caught the jersey and tossed it back into the fan, then sprinted into the top five of anyone who managed to reach past the metal barriers.
Jeff Green waited a while to celebrate at the parade. pic.twitter.com/15DWFo0TPq
– Nick Cosmider (@nicosmider) June 15, 2023
When a team has been waiting nearly five decades to win the NBA title, nothing can slow the party down.
“It’s not realistic, bro,” said forward Aaron Gordon.
It didn’t really hit him right after his team won the championship, Malone said in several radio interviews after Denver lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy Monday night. It wasn’t realistic that the team he captained in 2015, a team that played in front of a half-empty arena that was quiet enough to hear basketball bouncing, had just achieved the ultimate goal. So he reached out to Jarad Bednar, the next-door Colorado Avalanche coach who celebrated the Stanley Cup one year ago this month.
“When did it hit you?” Malone Bednar asked.
“On the show,” the Avs boss replied.
Malone soaked it all as he rode next to his wife, Jocelyn, on a truck in front of the truck carrying superstar duo Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, grabbing beer cans from the crowd and punching them. He, too, jumped off at one point and came face to face with cheering crowds, some of whom lined the road just after sunrise.
Malone wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a championship trophy and the words, “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”, a reference to his quote After Denver beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, when he entertained the narrative that the Lakers had somehow “discovered” the Nuggets despite a narrow loss in Game 1.
Michael Malone has no mercy 😆🍾 pic.twitter.com/K1QjLwuoJy
– NBA on ESPN (ESPNNBA) June 15, 2023
Wearing his competitive fire as loud as any other coach in the NBA, Malone seemed like someone trying to win the show. He tipped his hat to the side, swayed next to the fire truck with a bottle of champagne in his hand, ready to shower the crowd. But when he got off the truck at the end of the road near the Civic Center, when approached by Altitude TV reporter Christopher Dempsey, Malone let the emotions flow.
He said, “She’s hitting me now.”
An emotional Michael Malone: ”It’s hurting me right now. For me, to share it with our fans, it means the world to me. Such an amazing experience. Something I believe in. I had no doubt we’d get it to this point.” pic.twitter.com/6ixBrWIAtp
Harrison Wind June 15, 2023
Fans from nine months to 90 years old showed up on Thursday. Some of them were closer to the back end of this band than the front, having waited since 1976 to join this kind of party. A team led by Byron Beck, Dan Issel, and David Thompson traded the ABA’s red, white, and blue ball into the big league 47 years ago. Denver won the Midwest Division during its first two seasons in the NBA and made playoff appearances in 12 of its first 14 seasons. The nuggets kept knocking on the door, but they could never knock it down.
This is what made Thursday so special. There is no time like the first time.
This city has had great parties before. The Broncos have won three Super Bowls since 1998. The Avalanche have won three Stanley Cups since coming to Colorado in 1995, including last year. The Colorado Rockies have never claimed a championship, but they gave this city a Rocktober in 2007 with an unlikely World Series run.
This was new to the Nuggets and their fans. They have never reached the NBA Finals. They have never defeated the Lakers in seven playoff chances. During this run, they checked both boxes, sweeping LeBron James and the Lakers in the West Finals before dispatching the Heat in five games. They were dominant. They celebrated that dominance on Thursday with the same ferocity they showed during their 16-4 postseason. And they have engaged fans perhaps more than any other show in the history of this city’s titular tournament.
Bruce Brown partying the way it should be. (via @tweet) pic.twitter.com/1I6i5DsDw9
– Peace (@SLAMonline) June 15, 2023
“For me to share it with our fans, it means the world to me,” said Malone. “This is an amazing experience. Something we believe in. I had no doubt we would get to this point.”
The best line from the alcohol-soaked barrage of quotes before, during, and after the show belonged to Joki, the MVP of the NBA Finals whose 20 appearances during the playoffs are among the most impressive in league history. Jokić became so viral after Game 5 when he apparently expressed his exasperation about having to wait three more days in Denver for the show before he could fly home to Serbia, as he was eager to see one of his horses race on Sunday.
“You know I said I didn’t want to be in the parade.” Jokic said At the Civic Center Rally, shortly after he traveled to the final steps in a SWAT vehicle alongside Murray. “But I — I want to stay (for) the show. This is the best day of my life!”
Nikola Jokic on Monday: “I want to go home”.
Nikola Jokic today: “I want to stay in Parade. This is the best.”
🎥 @ bleach report pic.twitter.com/xTTZEsVEiw
– The Athletic June 15, 2023
The Nuggets didn’t want Thursday to end. So they keep talking about the next best thing.
“I have a crazy idea,” said Malone. “Let’s do this again!”
(Photo by Michael Malone: Ron Chenoy/USA Today)