In 2023 the Denver Nuggets finally reached a milestone that they had been chasing since joining the NBA in 1976. In 2023, the Denver Nuggets became World Champions winning their first NBA title on the backs of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
The Nuggets secured the top seed in the Western Conference two games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies. Denver was a force in the playoffs defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 4 games to 1 in the first round before heading to Phoenix to defeat the Suns 4-2. Their final match that would send them to the ‘Ship’ was with conference foes the Los Angeles Lakers who, let’s be honest, are shell of what they once were. The Nuggets defeated L.A. four games to none sweeping them in domination fashion.
Denver went on to face the Miami Heat and while many fans thought that Miami might just pull off an upset after defeating the Nuggets on their home court in game two, the Nuggets won out three straight games to take home the title for the first time in 47 years.
The Nuggets welcome home celebration downtown was big and although it wasn’t Denver Broncos 2015 big, it certainly was just as big as the Colorado Avalanche’s previous years championship celebration if not bigger.
While Denver will always be a football first kind of city, the recent championship wins by the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets should hold fans over while the Denver Broncos work to return to the team we saw in 2015.
The Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets both residents of Ball Arena and under the management of Kroenke Sports, are both expected to be playoff contenders with the Nuggets third in the Western Conference while the Avalanche are first in the central division.
This week the Nuggets are in the Bay Area to face the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at 8 p.m. and at home on Friday to host the Orlando Magic at 7 p.m. The Nuggets defeated the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night 111-93.
The Avalanche will be at home to host the New York Islanders (results of Tuesday’s game not available at the time of this writing) before heading to Dallas to face the Stars on Thursday at 6 p.m. This Saturday the Avs are home again to host the Florida Panthers at 2 p.m.
The Denver Broncos have been officially eliminated from the playoffs after losing two critical games back-to-back to the Detroit Lions and the New England Patriots. The loss of these two games was the deciding factors for Denver despite their most recent win over the L.A. Chargers.
What has perplexed fans the most since the loss to New England on Saturday night before Christmas Eve was the benching of Russell Wilson. Wilson was on the chopping block last season after having the worst season of his career but seemed to right the ship this season despite a dismal 1-5 start.
The future of Wilson in Denver looks grim, with the Broncos are on the hook for at least $37 million in guaran- teed money and an additional $85 million in dead cap over two years, which could have serious consequences when trying to build a competitive roster over the next couple seasons.
