If this keeps up, the Nuggets are going to be America鈥檚 new favorite basketball team.
But first things first. Before the Nuggets can become America鈥檚 team, I suppose the rest of the basketball world might actually have to learn the names of the gritty, little championship frauds from the lost time zone.
Yes, the Nuggets have heard the criticism of them.
鈥淎 bunch of frauds,鈥� coach Michael Malone said.
Well, despite working on short rest, Denver went out Monday night and torched the Portland defense in a 121-113 victory.
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For those of you keeping score at home, this best-of-seven series now stands:
Fraud City 1, Rip City 0.
We鈥檇 say the Nuggets get no respect. And I dig those groovy new T-shirts, blue emblazoned with 鈥淢ile High City Frauds鈥� in gold lettering, attire that抖阴ap a bit of spunky genius from my friends at Denver Stiffs and D-Line Company.
But that nobody-respects-us schtick is kind of a sports clich茅, don’t you think?. And what抖阴ap closer to the truth? From ABC-TV commentator Jeff Van Gundy to the analytic gurus at 538, the Nuggets are regarded as harmless background noise basketball fans on the East Coast use to fall asleep.
For the most part, if America thinks of the Nuggets at all, they think: When do Steph and K.D. and the Beard play again?
We鈥檙e talking to you, LeBron James.
鈥淐鈥檓on, LeBron!鈥� defensive stopper Torrey Craig joked in the Denver locker room after the game. 鈥淚f you want me to keep wearing your shoes, you鈥檝e got to get my name right.鈥�
Here鈥檚 the context: On the evening of Game 1, James took to Twitter and saluted players from Portland and Denver who had the good taste to wear his sneakers.
The tweet from the King proclaimed: 鈥淒aniel Craig, Moe Harkless, and Meyers Leonard all rocking those 鈥楳artin鈥� LeBron 16 on the court in the same game.鈥�
鈥淲ho is Daniel Craig?鈥� asked Torrey Craig, genuinely puzzled.
Well, I explained, Daniel Craig is the actor who plays James Bond in the movies.
鈥淩eally?鈥� the Nuggets鈥� Craig said. 鈥淚t抖阴ap kinda sad LeBron got my name wrong the first time.鈥�
Hey, LeBron. Last I checked, your shoes were in the NBA playoffs. But you weren鈥檛.
Pity.
Jokic scored 37 points against Portland.
Ho. Hum.
Not bad for a fraudulent most valuable player candidate.
In a recent poll conducted by The Athletic, 122 NBA players named their choice for MVP. James Harden (44.3 percent of the vote), Giannis Antetokounmpo (38.9 percent), Paul George (12.7 percent), Joel Embiid (1.7 percent), as well as Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard and Kawhi Leonard (all 1 percent) were recognized for their basketball excellence.
What, no love for Jokic?
C鈥檓on, won鈥檛 somebody say something nice about Joker?
鈥淗e鈥檚 like a quarterback out there,鈥� Nuggets teammate Paul Millsap said of the Joker. 鈥淚 consider him like a Tom Brady. He鈥檚 always going to pick you apart and make the right reads.鈥�
Denver needs to work on some things prior to Game 2. Not the team. The crowd in the Pepsi Center.
Hey, I love y鈥檃ll. But your M-V-P chant for Jokic? It抖阴ap lame. The volume鈥檚 weak. Shout it. In unison. More cowbell. Please.
When the Nuggets were rolling in the second half, I sought out the only folks in the whole arena that do the M-V-P chant justice. They were nine dudes in Row 18 of Section 130. They were loud. They were proud. And they showed up wearing No. 15 to honor Jokic, except for one joker who apparently could only find an old Ty Lawson jersey in his closet.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all from Macedonia and Bulgaria,鈥� explained Anton Boyadzhiev, pointing excitedly at the court.
鈥淎nd the M-V-P? He鈥檚 the big Serbian right down there.鈥�
The Joker. He鈥檚 the leader of America鈥檚 team. If Peyton Manning was PFM, shouldn鈥檛 Nikola Jokic be NFJ?
And if our gritty, little frauds from the Mile High City advance to the Western Conference finals, LeBron might even learn their names.
