Classless.
Three days after Marcus Camby used the word, it still bothers me. And I’m not the one he was describing. He was talking about the Nuggets in the aftermath of the trade that sent him to the Clippers.
Classless? The Monfort brothers have been called cheap and Mike Shanahan has been called any number of things, depending on the Broncos’ perch in the AFC West standings. But classless? That’s harsh. And for the record, inaccurate.
The Nuggets have fit a lot of adjectives through the years, with “disappointing” accounting for the most hits. But classless? No.
Sure, they should have handled the Camby trade differently. But the truth is, Rex Chapman, the Nuggets’ director of player personnel, text-messaged Camby and left messages for Camby at his home, and cellphone numbers. According to Chapman, he never heard back.
“I feel bad that he feels bad,” Chapman said.
But the Nuggets aren’t classless. They’ve never played in the NBA Finals, much less won a championship. But that doesn’t make them classless.
They’ve given us Paul Westhead and 11-71 and James Ray and Rob Williams, the Fat Little Hog himself. But that doesn’t make them classless.
Their former general manager, Kiki Vandeweghe, broke the bank to sign Kenyon Martin, he of the bum knees and accuracy-challenged jump shot. But that doesn’t make them classless.
They haven’t won a playoff series since Carmelo Anthony’s arrival. But that doesn’t make them classless.
And while we’re on the subject, no one is quite sure who calls the personnel shots at the Pepsi Center. But that doesn’t make the Nuggets classless, either.
They’ve bungled a lot of trades, blown a lot of draft choices and given up a lot of leads through the years. But none of that makes them classless, either. Foolhardy maybe, but not classless.
The fact is, the Nuggets, for the most part, have been an entertaining team through the years. Not a championship contender or a perennial division winner, but an entertaining team. Some people haven’t considered them worth the price of admission, but you know what? A whole lot of people have.
What most people don’t know is this: The Nuggets have been a great civic partner through the years. With the aid of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, they’ve donated $23 million to Denver-area nonprofit organizations since 1993.
That’s commonly known as changing lives, making a difference, giving back to the community. But if you’re looking for one word to describe it, I’ve got one you might want to try.
Classy.
