There is no schmaltz in basketball.
Not in this ostentatious and pretentious league, where sentimental emotions are kept zipped inside the Louis Vuitton luggage.
This is a Brad Pitt league; Hugh Grants can buy a ticket.
But once in a while, something magical and Hollywood-like happens to a team, and the players embrace it with their long, open arms.
Such is the case with the enraptured Nuggets: Their well-liked teammate underwent the removal of a cancerous testicular tumor, followed by chemotherapy. And in the same season, he persevered to rejoin the team and inspire the players during a heated playoff race.
“I don’t think Nene understands how he helps other guys by playing,” Denver coach George Karl said. “He helps the spirit of the team, the camaraderie, the confidence. Basketball and sport is made up of intangibles, little things that you really don’t understand.”
First there was the night Nene, 25, returned to the bench, and the inspired Nuggets defeated the Spurs on March 8.
He made his return to the court in the waning minutes of the important March 27 win against Dallas. And in his next game at the Pepsi Center, this past Tuesday against Phoenix, he received another standing ovation and played sturdy defense against Shaquille O’Neal, while notching four points, five rebounds and two assists in just 10 minutes. Denver won that game, too.
It’s not that Nene is the singular reason for these wins, but, as Karl and the Nuggets say, he is providing a vibe.
“It’s a story of a special spirit, anytime we can bring a good human side of competition and athleticism,” said Karl, who is a cancer survivor. “There just seems to be a better chemistry on the team — a spirit, fight, gutsiness.”
Forward Eduardo Najera has been Nene’s teammate since 2004-05. He said he feels Nene’s presence.
“We embrace him to the point that I think he knows that he was missed, just around the (Pepsi Center) facility, not just him playing,” Najera said. “Just his smile — he’s a very nice guy, and he’s one of my favorites on the team.”
The goal, Karl said, is to get Nene up to a consistent 15 to 20 minutes per game. It will be gradual. After all, Nene underwent chemotherapy Feb. 26. On March 24, after a workout, Nene said his hands were shaking due to lingering effects from the treatment. Now, he’s guarding Shaq.
“He’s going to have to play breathing hard, with some burn in his gut,” Karl said. “Hopefully in a playoff situation he’ll be a factor in the game, or even at the end of the season.”
Nene has touched the world. There are his fans in Denver and his fans in Brazil. There are the testicular-cancer survivors, and those battling it right now. There’s his coach, who survived cancer, and the coach’s son, Coby, who survived cancer as well. And there are his teammates, who happily let down their guard to embrace this tale of perseverance.
“Nene is an inspiration,” said Dr. Fernando Kim of Denver Health, who performed the surgery. “He’s been through a lot. He had everything and could have lost everything, but he went through the treatment and is back on his feet. He has been extremely brave.”
Kim stresses that testicular cancer is actually prominent among younger adults, and that annual testing at a doctor’s office is highly suggested. “If it can happen to Nene,” he said, “it can happen to anybody.”
Benched, but improving.
A year ago, Taurean Green was manning the point in the Final Four. Same goes for two years ago. Now Green is a temporary Colorado 14er; the Nuggets sent him down Saturday.
Karl said the move will give Green a chance to log some minutes; the logjam in the Nuggets backcourt kept the rookie from playing at other than garbage time.
Still, the two-time NCAA champion from Florida is pleased with his growth in the past month-and-a-half, primarily thanks to his one-on-one work with assistant coach John Welch and, at other times, with assistant Tim Grgurich.
Green seldom plays. So he spends extra time after each practice — and before each game — working with the staff, doing repetitive dribbling and shooting drills, in order to learn the offense and fine-tune his skills.
“Coach Welch is working me hard, and my game feels a lot better,” Green said.
“I haven’t had a lot of chances to go up and down, but just doing these workouts, I feel my skills have improved and my IQ of the game has improved.”
This summer will be key for Green, who will man the point for Denver’s summer league team.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “They told me they’re going to put the ball in my hands, and just let me play.”
Green’s contract isn’t guaranteed until Aug. 1, so the Nuggets could include him in a summer trade.
New New York?
The embattled Knicks hired the revered Donnie Walsh to be their new president.
In his famed “Top 10 List,” New York-based David Letterman featured: Top 10 questions on the job application for Knicks president.
They included: “Can you promise to deliver New York a winning team within 25 years?”
“Do you have any friends who can play center, power forward, point guard or shooting guard?”
“Are you insane?”
Spotlight on . . .
Al Horford, forward, Hawks
Yes, Kevin Durant will likely win the rookie of the year award, but it’s arguable that no rookie has been more important to his team’s success than Horford (notably because Seattle has had little success).
The Hawks — yes, the Hawks — should make the playoffs. And even though it’s in the Eastern Conference, and even though they have a losing record, it’s still the playoffs, and they’re having one of their best seasons in a decade, thanks to a rookie.
The Florida product entered the weekend nearly averaging a double-double — 10.1 points and 9.7 rebounds, while starting 70 of Atlanta’s 74 games.
He has been dominant on the glass, with 37 double-digit rebound nights, including 20 against the Lakers, the first Hawks’ 20-board night since Alan Henderson in 2002.
After a March 2 game against Boston, Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters of Horford: “I don’t know what rookie’s playing better.”
