Was Allen Iverson, I tapped the other day, actually good for the Nuggets?

Thinking …

Thinking …

Mixed bag. No shock.

“The good: Elite scoring. Playmaking. Excitement.

“The bad: Overlapping skills. Team success. The trade.”

Ah, yes. The trade. The Nuggets eventually swapped Iverson to Detroit in November 2008 after 135 games in blue and gold for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.

Given almost 18 years of retrospection, AI was the better scorer. Mr. Big Shot was the better fit, better leader, better facilitator, better — well, everything else. The best prep hoopster Denver ever produced steadied George Karl’s ship, helping to march the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals in 2009 against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Elite scoring. Playmaking. Excitement.

Overlapping skills. Team success. The trade.

Carmelo then, Nikola Jokic now.

Allen Iverson then, LeBron James now.

Not the perfect parallel, granted. But both AI and King James are old dogs, set in their ways, who can’t necessarily be counted on to master new tricks this late in their careers.

Sure, Iverson was all kinds of fun in Denver, even into his 30s — but once a ball hog, always a ball hog. His Nuggs won 45 games in ’06-’07 and won 50 in ’07-08. Only those same Nuggets lost to the Spurs over five games in the first round of ’07 playoffs as AI averaged 22.8 points on 22.8 shots per game. In the ’08 postseason, it was another first-round loss, this time in four games to the Lakers, as Iverson averaged 24.5 points on 20.8 shots per contest.

King James’ Denver interest as a free agent is reportedly flagging, but it ain’t over ’til the fat whiteboard sings. Like AI two decades earlier, James turns the Nuggets into ESPN’s Team, which, by proxy, makes them America’s Team. It’s the Coach Prime Effect times 50. Denver becomes the NBA capital of the world. Ticket values skyrocket. Jerseys fly off the shelves. The King’s presence makes the Nuggs nationally relevant and a heck of a lot more fun to watch.

But like AI, does he make them … better? And better when it counts?

King James is only the second NBA player , our new cultural bar for all-time basketball greatness.  At age 35, he helped carry the Lake Show to a 2020 NBA title at the COVID bubble.

Yet in the six postseasons since, LeBron’s been knocked out in the first round of the playoffs three times, reached the Western Conference Finals once (2023), made the West semis once, and missed the bracket entirely once.

It’s a different game in April, May and June. Different rules. Different defenses. Different calls. But over five playoff runs that followed, he’s only topped the 120 mark in offensive efficiency one other time (2025) and his OR dipped to 109 this past spring while he shot 45.9% from the floor and 32.7% on treys.

If the King’s expected final season was strictly about basketball, purely about joy on the court, it would be the Nuggets, wouldn’t it?  Jokic and Old Man Bron are basketball brothers, hoops savants who always seem to be two to three steps ahead of everyone else.

The Nuggets during the apex of The Joker Era — think 2020-2024 — were at their best when they were looking for the quick bucket on runouts, flipping defense into instant offense. Even if the engine doesn’t turn over as often as it used to, James can still fly at 41.

Joker hitting LeBron mid-stride while the latter runs skinny post routes up the court, then finishing with authority, They’d scare the pants off of even the best Western Conference defenses, Oklahoma City’s slap-happy, grabby mitts included. With King James in the fold, Thunder-Nuggets, for better or worse, would inevitably devolve into a free-throw contest between LeBron and SGA — a ratings boon and aesthetic flop.

Alas, even if the King says his final act isn’t about money, it is about staging. Staging and control.

For one, the buzz says LeBron is lining up a documentary crew to film his version of the last NBA chapter. Can you picture Jokic ever being comfortable with camera crews that aren’t his hanging around to chronicle his every move in the locker room? Or on the bench? Or Kroenke Sports & Entertainment green-lighting an ongoing narrative in which they’ve got neither editorial oversight nor final cut?

For another, One More Ride For Posterity is also designed to end with a ring — or trying, at least. Shea (Thunder), Wemby (San Antonio), LaMelo Ball (Minnesota) and Luka (Lakers) give the Western Conference four of the league’s best six teams. With all apologies to Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, the road to the crown is still simpler and easier via the Eastern Conference route.

Philly is risky, Miami is trite and Cleveland is hackneyed. But if you want the Last Dance to end in confetti, those might be the smarter plays for James’ camp.

The Nuggets’ second-smartest move right now would be to give Peyton Watson $20 million. The smartest would be to facilitate a trade that flips P-Swat into two P-Swat clones. Jokic turns 32 on February 19. If there’s a debate on Chopper Circle between “Elite Scoring” and “Team Success,” it better darn well be a short one.

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But when legalized sports betting debuted in Colorado in 2020, another tradition took hold at those Lot W tailgates: sports gambling. Now, when the family assembles before the home games, they discuss parlays and point spreads almost as much as they talk about Bo Nix and Sean Payton.

On a warm January day, while partying outside their late-model Winnebago painted with blue-and-orange stripes, they figured out the wagers they planned to put on the Broncos’ final regular-season game, against the , and other NFL matchups.

They weren’t alone. Sports betting and fantasy football dominated conversations throughout the parking lots as tailgaters speculated how much they might win.

The gameday bets — putting a little money on the line — are all part of the fun of football Sundays, said Joe Canales, a family friend who joined the tailgate.

“We all get excited when somebody wins,” he said.

Legalized sports betting is changing the face of sports and fandom in Colorado as people wager billions annually on games and on the athletes who play them. In the six years since voters approved Proposition DD, the state’s gamblers have wagered more than $30.6 billion on sports, averaging $425 million a month.

For years, sports betting was taboo within the professional leagues as commissioners and team owners kept gambling at arm’s length for fear of scandal. Now, leagues and teams promote their partnerships with gambling companies. Fans watching games on TV are inundated with sports-betting ads, and those in the stands can see gambling companies’ names painted on courts and fields.

Bettors often care more about individual athletes’ performances than about their hometown teams as they wager on how many three-point shots a basketball player will make or how many touchdowns a quarterback might throw, multiple people told The Denver Post. Athletes feel the pressure, whether it’s because they receive angry messages on social media from people who lose money or from gamblers seeking an edge from inside information.

Legalized gambling is also threatening the integrity of sports, with fans fearing athletes, coaches and referees may alter calls or plays to influence the outcomes of bets. Just before the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament kicked off, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, that found a majority of Americans — almost 60% — believe sports betting affects the integrity of college basketball.

“It����ap ruining the relationship between a player and their sport, and it����ap ruining the relationship between fandom and the athletes,” said Montee Ball, a former Broncos running back who leads the , which focuses on athletes’ mental health.

All of that is forcing coaches and administrators to incorporate gambling and mental health awareness into athletes’ training, with education now starting as early as high school for athletes in Colorado.

In the past six years, sports betting scandals have rocked professional and college leagues, ensnaring Colorado athletes such as hometown basketball legend Chauncey Billups, who was implicated last fall as an unnamed co-conspirator in a rigged NBA betting scheme.

This story, which examines how gambling is changing sports, is the third in The Post’s series about legalized sports betting’s impact on Colorado. The first story looked at an alarming rise in gambling addiction, while the second installment covered how sports wagering’s tax revenue benefits water projects in Colorado.

Sports betting has existed in America as long as athletes have laced up their high-top sneakers. In the past, gamblers sought bookies in secret to place bets, collect winnings and pay debts. Gamblers turned to offshore sportsbooks once the internet became accessible.

Now, sports fans place bets from their phones, often in the middle of games, thanks to a that overturned the , allowing states to set their own laws regulating sports betting. Colorado acted quickly, putting the question to a ballot referendum in November 2019; voters allowed sportsbooks to open for business in May 2020.

And, almost as quickly, Denver’s professional sports teams announced business deals with gambling companies.

An evolving relationship

Just a little more than a decade ago, the was so antagonistic toward sports gambling that the league’s commissioner threatened to suspend Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo over his plans to attend that was being organized by a company he owned.

The NFL prohibited players from participating in any event sponsored by a gambling-related company, and the league so narrowly defined gambling that fantasy football was included, even though those games pit people against each other rather than the house, which keeps the profits.

Players are still not allowed to bet on the NFL, play daily fantasy games or visit sportsbooks during football season. But the league and team owners have embraced sports betting.

Denver’s major sports teams are reluctant to talk about those new business relationships, with every professional team as well as the University of Colorado Boulder and its football coach Deion Sanders declining The Post’s interview requests.

The Broncos and the Colorado Rockies sent prepared statements via email, declaring that they follow the rules while protecting their players and the games’ integrity.

“In compliance with the NFL’s gambling policy, all members of our organization undergo comprehensive training on the subject,” the statement from Broncos spokesman Patrick Smyth said. “For players, this includes mandatory in-person education as well as in-season communication and other resources from the team and league.”

The Broncos inked their first business deal with sports-betting app in June 2020 — one month after Colorado’s sportsbooks opened for business.  The team also partnered that summer with , which opened a now-shuttered luxury lounge inside the stadium, and . Today, BetMGM is the team’s lone sports-betting partner.

The Colorado Rockies partner with Denver-based , allowing the company to have a sign on the outfield wall.

also partners with bet365 as a sponsor for the and . That , which allows bet365’s logo to be placed under the Avalanche’s ice and on the Nuggets’ baseline, is in place through the 2028-2029 season.

Courtney Brunious, an assistant professor at the , said he was not surprised Denver’s teams did not want to talk about their business relationships with gambling companies.

“There’s still a certain stigma attached to it,” said Brunious, who teaches sports business. “It’s still — I don’t want to say an uneasy relationship — but it’s an ongoing and evolving partnership. It’s not necessarily something they want to put a spotlight on.”

The gambling companies are eager to associate with professional sports because it puts their names in front of enthusiastic fans, Brunious said. The teams benefit from sports gambling because people who bet money on games are more likely to watch them on television, boosting coveted audience numbers.

The sure thing, Brunious said, is that those relationships will not dissolve. There’s too much money at stake.

“It’s not going away,” he said. “It����ap going to require adjustments to make sure all parties are protected as much as possible.”

The sports teams and betting companies are entwined with each other’s success.

Every decision a team makes is analyzed by gamblers and can move a betting line up or down, changing the fortunes of those who wager and those who make money off of it.

When the Los Angeles Rams on June 1 traded for reigning defensive player of the year Myles Garrett, that team became Las Vegas oddsmakers’ favorite to win the next Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the odds for Garrett’s former team, the Cleveland Browns, dropped to 200-to-1 from 115-to-1, according to a news release from Circa Sports.

Peter Jackson, the chief executive officer of , FanDuel’s parent company, explained in a February how “player narratives” impact his company’s revenue. When the NFL’s most popular players are not in the playoffs, the fans bet less money, he said.

“There was one player we had on our books over the course of the year that had more money bet on him in the course of the season than the Pats did,” Jackson said, without naming the player. “This player stuff is super important, and when we don’t have those key players making the playoffs or the Super Bowl, it really does impact player engagement and betting volumes.”

Pressure and harassment

Players are well aware that fans’ interest in their performance is more intense when money is on the line.

They already face performance anxiety because players are super competitive and want to win, said Ball, who played for the Broncos during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Professional athletes also know that an injury or a bad game can cost them playing time and shorten their careers. Now, they also have pressure from fans who want to win money by betting on whether they throw a touchdown pass or catch an interception.

“The athletes can’t escape it,” Ball said. “They shouldn’t have to turn everything off because John is screaming on Twitter, ‘I hope you tear your ACL.’ ”

Athletes in all sports are reporting an increase in harassment since sports betting became legal.

Nuggets guard Bruce Brown brought it up on Oct. 23 in the wake of an NBA sports-betting scandal, telling reporters, “Obviously, after every game, we get DMs about not hitting people’s parlays. There’s been games where I’ve been called every name in the book, just because I didn’t hit a three or two. I mean, that����ap just the state of the game we’re in, since sports betting got legal. So I mean, just kind of deal with it. Not think about it. Don’t check your DMs after games.”

Cory Fox, senior vice president of public policy and sustainability at FanDuel, said the company banishes gamblers from its app if they are caught harassing athletes. The other legalized sports books have similar policies.

“First and foremost, we find the harassment of athletes abhorrent,” Fox said.

In June 2025, FanDuel who heckled Gabby Thomas, an Olympic gold medalist in track. The fan, who goes by “Mr100kaday” and describes himself as “The Track and Field Bully,” posted a video of himself hurling insults as Thomas signed autographs and claimed that his heckling caused Thomas to lose the race and allowed him to win a $1,000 parlay bet.

FanDuel is working with sports leagues to develop a process to identify and investigate harassers so they can be banned from the app, Fox said.

“It’s also true there has been an increase in bad behavior,” he said. “This is something we’ve seen globally and it has a lot of factors involved.”

Temptation lurks

There is another dark side to sports gambling — rigged performances.

A major betting scandal rocked the NBA in October when the Terry Rozier, a former Charlotte Hornets point guard, who stands accused of participating in an illegal sports-betting scheme using inside NBA knowledge to defraud sportsbooks and for checking out of a game early to benefit bettors. He has .

And the city of Denver was shocked when Billups, who was then the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was linked to the Rozier scandal as an apparent unindicted co-conspirator. Billups was also for allegedly participating in a Mafia-backed illegal poker scheme to defraud unwitting players during card games. He has also pleaded not guilty.

Other sports-betting scandals involving athletes with Colorado ties:

• Denver Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended for the 2023 season for gambling on NFL games, including five involving the Broncos
• Colorado Rapids midfielder Max Alves was removed from the team in 2023 in the wake of a match-fixing investigation in his home country of Brazil
• Jontay Porter, the brother of former Nuggets starter Michael Porter Jr., was banned from the NBA in 2024 after he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors about his health and limited his participation in one or more games for betting purposes while playing for the Toronto Raptors

Sports betting scandals are almost as old as sports themselves. Think of the Black Sox scandal during the 1919 World Series, when multiple team members conspired with professional gamblers to throw games.

, who played in the NBA for eight years and overseas for three, said gambling is part of the culture for professional athletes.

During his 11 years of pro ball, teammates would bet on anything — trick shots during practice, card games on the road, even which referees would call a playoff game, Funderburke said. It’s the nature of being competitive and confident.

“You’re taught at an early age to bet on yourself,” he said. “You’ve overcome the odds, right? Little League, high school, college, now in the NBA, you’re playing against the best in the world. You always feel like you can overcome the odds. And with athletes, they feel like they can win at just about anything.”

Funderburke, who now works as a financial adviser, speaks out against gambling and tells his clients there are better things to do with their money. He traveled to Colorado in May to encourage lawmakers to pass a bill that would establish guardrails on sports betting in an attempt to curb addiction rates.

“Here’s the problem with the culture,” he said. “Most of the guys that I know — and I won’t say names — who had issues with gambling, not only end up having financial constraints and issues, but their marriages and their families deteriorate at the same time, which I think is much worse than any type of financial problems.”

The professional leagues and universities know the temptation is there and they are working to combat it.

But they are not always successful.

The controversy surrounding Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby serves as the latest example.

‘A source of heartburn’

Days before the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, sent a warning to all of its athletes: Sports betting is against the rules.

“It is still to a large degree one of the worst violations you can have,” said , CSU’s associate athletic director for compliance. “With sports wagering, the door pretty much gets shut down. Like a positive drug test too many times, your eligibility is just shot.”

However, the Sorsby case upended that policy for college football.

Sorsby made thousands of impermissible bets worth at least $90,000 on college and pro sports, including some on his team when he was a freshman at the University of Indiana. The NCAA suspended Sorsby after he was caught and admitted to gambling, but he sued in an attempt to play his senior season.

A Texas judge ruled June 8 through a temporary injunction that Sorsby should be allowed to play during the upcoming season after serving a two-game suspension. The ruling could overturn NCAA rules, and it propelled college football into uncertainty as to what happens if other student-athletes bet on their own games.

The decision undermined a longstanding NCAA policy that forbids college athletes from gambling on sports and bans them if they’re caught betting on their own teams.

College sports are rapidly changing, with athletes able to earn money from their schools, booster clubs, television commercials and social media feeds. They have more money in their pockets now — in some cases, millions of dollars, Siemer said. The temptation to bet on sports lurks, he said, especially for high-level athletes who believe they know more about their sport than anyone else and can predict wins and losses on sports-betting apps.

“That’s a source of heartburn for us,” he said. “We don’t want to legislate morality, but they have more money now than when they just had a scholarship, and we want them to be smart with it.”

Every student-athlete signs a gambling agreement, acknowledging that they cannot place bets and cannot provide insider information to others, Siemer said.

Each year, CSU brings in experts to talk to students about the risks of gambling and to educate them on the NCAA’s rules that prohibit gambling. The athletics department wants them to understand how important it is that they do not leak tips about injuries or game strategies to others, who might benefit from the inside knowledge, Siemer said.

Last year, a presentation to students revealed just how much money was bet on each sport during a single season, and while Siemer said he could not remember the specifics, he recalled that it was “jaw-dropping.”

While football is the most popular sport for gamblers who bet on CSU sports, other teams also see healthy amounts of wagers, he said.

“I think the presumption is everyone is betting on football,” Siemer said. “Well, it’s not just football. It’s all of the sports. These sports-betting companies will put a line on anything. It doesn’t matter. Women’s tennis. Women’s soccer. The presumption that it’s all on football and basketball should be put to bed.”

Nip it in the bud

Aside from talking to athletes about the pitfalls of gambling, the leagues and teams are turning to professional monitors for help. The NCAA’s major conferences contract with , a company that specializes in sports compliance and integrity.

Matt Heap, a former deputy director, manages IC360’s , a program that monitors betting among athletes at more than 150 universities and more than 25 professional sports leagues.

“That monitors every game, every goal, every pitch,” he said.

Prohibet coordinates with sportsbooks to detect irregular gambling patterns, Heap said. The colleges also provide identifying information — dates of birth, driver’s licenses, phone numbers — on every student-athlete, making it easier to detect prohibited bets. Prohibet also monitors coaches, trainers, administrators and referees to identify irregular betting patterns.

The program can even find crossover bets from different internet addresses that can connect student-athletes to accounts owned by friends and family, he said. Word is spreading among college athletes that they can get caught, he said.

“It nips it in the bud,” Heap said. “The ones that continue to do it and push it are the ones they need to keep an eye on.”

IC360 also works with NCAA athletic departments to educate athletes on the rules surrounding gambling and to warn them about the pitfalls surrounding them. Even telling a friend, family member or classmate about a team member’s injury can sway bets, Heap said.

“Something that seems as innocent or innocuous as that can be the first sign someone is trying to get a hook into a player,” he said. “You guys are targets because someone who wants to manipulate a game outcome has to have a player, a ref or some other game official.”

Those who work with athletes believe education about sports betting must start at a younger age.

Last year, the paired with the to start a gambling awareness program for high school athletes.

CHSAA officials wanted players, parents and coaches to understand the rules and the consequences of violating them, commissioner Mike Krueger said. It’s becoming a national issue at the high school level.

Legal sportsbooks don’t take wagers on high school sports because it is prohibited by state laws, but offshore betting sites accept those wagers, as do emerging prediction markets. People must be 21 to open a legal sports betting account in the U.S., but young people access them through family members and older friends.

“It’s recognizing the reality,” Krueger said. “That’s where we’ve got to have the awareness. While sports betting continues to expand across our society, our responsibility remains unchanged. We look at it as a student well-being issue and not just around rules enforcement.”

READ MORE FROM THIS SPECIAL REPORT: Colorado’s gamble on sports betting

MVP (and First Team All-NBA)

• 1. Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Thunder
• 2. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
• 3. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
• 4. Luka Doncic, Lakers
• 5. Cade Cunningham, Pistons

This is a safe space, Nuggets fans. You can let it all out. I’ll be your punching bag if it makes you feel better. But I’ll just remind you I was part of the minority when I voted for Jokic over SGA last year. () And I’ll direct you to Jokic’s own assessment of his 2025-26 season, when I asked him recently how it compares to the previous year, when he said he was “playing the best basketball of my life.”

“I think for me, it was a little bit inconsistent,” he said this time. “Just because injury, and then it was the first time I was coming back from (an) injury. … I think before injury, I played really, really high-level basketball. And since injury, it’s so-so.”

That was on March 25, with three weeks remaining in the regular season. You can argue he had turned a corner by then — though you might have to ignore his 10 turnovers in a loss to the tanking Grizzlies a week earlier — but the point is that for at least two and a half months of the season, Jokic simply wasn’t a relevant enough part of the MVP conversation. A hyperextended left knee sidelined him in January. His first few weeks back on the court hindered him in February, not to mention a flare-up of discomfort in his right wrist that he was determined to play through. He was a pedestrian 3-point shooter for the last 33 games after his return from the knee injury. He had a tendency to play loose with the ball, finishing with a turnover rate 2.5% higher than last season and a worse assist-to-turnover ratio. I would not describe this as his most active defensive season either, in part due to his coaching staff’s inclination to save his energy for the playoffs (a worthwhile trade-off).

If it sounds like I’m just a hater ragging on a Denver sports icon, please keep in mind that my ballot still reflects the stance that Jokic was the second-best player in the NBA this season �����辱�ٱ���those months. That’s how automatically impactful his presence on the court is, even when he “struggles.” But the margins narrowed this season as Gilgeous-Alexander continued to improve as both a scorer and playmaker. Averaging 31.1 points on 55.3% shooting from the field and 66.5% true shooting (within 0.5% of Jokic) on a guard’s shot diet is ridiculous. That’s the efficiency of a 7-footer whose only shot attempts are pick-and-roll lobs and other easy chances around the rim. Consider also that SGA’s burden as a shot creator was heightened this year by wingman Jalen Williams missing 50 games, and that OKC still had a 121.5 offensive rating with him on the floor (11.1 points per 100 better than without him).

I maintain that Jokic is the best basketball player on the planet because his versatility at the center position is revolutionary and his highs are higher than anybody else’s (at least for now, until Victor Wembanyama catches up). But Gilgeous-Alexander’s metronomic consistency made him the best and most valuable player to his team this regular season.

Second Team All-NBA

• Kawhi Leonard, Clippers
• Jaylen Brown, Celtics
• Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
• Jamal Murray, Nuggets
• Tyrese Maxey, 76ers

I’ll make a few very brief notes on the rest of my ballot as I go. Leonard was originally penciled in as my fifth-place MVP vote and last First-Team All-NBA selection, until an arbitrator unexpectedly ruled in favor of Cunningham being eligible for awards despite not playing 65 games. Leonard barely crossed the threshold himself (and Cunningham actually played more minutes), so it’s not like there was some chasm between them in availability. I almost talked myself into keeping Leonard fifth anyway, but Cunningham’s season was unimpeachable. He had an absolutely profound winning impact on a top-seeded team that doesn’t exactly have awesome spacing or secondary shot creation around him.

Props to Murray, who would have been my unofficial seventh-place MVP vote if Doncic and Cunningham had both been deemed ineligible. Even with those two guys allowed on the ballot, the Nuggets guard was comfortably on my Second Team.

Third Team All-NBA

• Chet Holmgren, Thunder
• Jalen Brunson, Knicks
• Kevin Durant, Rockets
• Jalen Johnson, Hawks
• Jalen Duren, Pistons

Coach of the Year

• 1. Joe Mazzulla, Celtics
• 2. JB Bickerstaff, Pistons
• 3. Tiago Splitter, Trail Blazers

This was one of the most difficult awards on the ballot for me this year. There are a ton of coaches around the league right now deserving of recognition. Also strongly considered: San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson, Phoenix’s Jordan Ott, Toronto’s Darko Rajakovic, Charlotte’s Charles Lee, Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault and Denver’s David Adelman (54 wins despite all those injuries?). Ultimately leaned Splitter, who had perhaps the most unfavorable situation in the NBA this year, taking over for Chauncey Billups on opening day, and coached the Blazers to the playoffs in a tough Western Conference. Will Portland’s cost-cutting new owner pay him a wage commensurate to his accomplishments?

Most Improved Player

• 1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Hawks
• 2. Jalen Duren, Pistons
• 3. Collin Gillespie, Suns

Gillespie didn’t make the cut as a finalist, but would you have ever guessed when he was on a two-way contract in Denver that he would someday break a franchise’s single-season record for most 3-pointers? He’s a point guard by nature, but he also was 47.4% on catch-and-shoot 3s this season. In general, he handled his increased responsibility in Phoenix with incredible poise, starting 58 games for a surprise playoff team after having played only 57 in his NBA career before 2025-26.

Sixth Man of the Year

• 1. Keldon Johnson, Spurs
• 2. Jaime Jaquez, Heat
• 3. Tim Hardaway Jr., Nuggets

Three worthy candidates in a year without an obvious winner. Johnson’s energy is inextricable from his team’s identity in addition to his statistical contributions off the bench, so he gets the nod from me in a squeaker. Also strongly considered: Minnesota’s Ayo Dosunmu, OKC’s Ajay Mitchell and New York’s Mitchell Robinson, until I realized he didn’t meet the 65-game rule.

Clutch Player of the Year

• 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
• 2. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
• 3. Jamal Murray, Nuggets

SGA’s likely win in this category will reinforce his MVP candidacy. He was fantastic in the biggest moments all season.

Defensive Player of the Year (and First Team All-Defense)

• 1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
• 2. Chet Holmgren, Thunder
• 3. Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves
• Ausar Thompson, Pistons
• Scottie Barnes, Raptors

Second Team All-Defense

• Cason Wallace, Thunder
• Derrick White, Celtics
• OG Anunoby, Knicks
• Stephon Castle, Spurs
• Amen Thompson, Rockets

Rookie of the Year (and First Team All-Rookie)

• 1. Kon Knueppel, Hornets
• 2. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
• 3. VJ Edgecombe, 76ers
• Dylan Harper, Spurs
• Ace Bailey, Jazz

I’ve seen the school of thought that Flagg should be bestowed this honor because he’s likely to have the better overall career than Knueppel. That may well be true, but Rookie of the Year is about this year, not the next 10 to 20. This was deservedly a tight race nonetheless, and I have no qualms with Flagg winning if that indeed comes to pass. But for a rookie to lead the NBA in 3s is truly remarkable, and Knueppel’s sharpshooting ability had ripple effects across the overall execution of Charlotte’s offense en route to the Play-In Tournament. His poor performance in the Play-In is not supposed to be counted against him, and it certainly was not on my ballot.

Second Team All-Rookie

• Cedric Coward, Grizzlies
• Maxime Raynaud, Kings
• Derik Queen, Pelicans
• Ryan Kalkbrenner, Hornets
• Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans

Nuggets leaders at their best

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray continued to carry their team on the road, like star players are supposed to do. Murray started fast, scoring 23 of his team-leading 34 points in the first quarter. On a night his 3-pointer wasn’t falling like it was in the last two wins, he got to the rim and found space in the midrange. He also didn’t force bad decisions throughout the game as Charlotte’s focus shifted to him, tallying six assists and no turnovers on a 14-for-25 shooting night.

Jokic went for 28 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, passing Michael Jordan and tying Chauncey Billups for 51st on the all-time list. Next up for him to catch is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who’s 24 assists ahead with 5,660.

The Nuggets center has been playing with a trifecta of fresh red scratches across his upper right arm this week, as if a grizzly bear got ahold of him. The culprit? Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, Jokic says. But the plot twist is that “I fouled (him).”

The 30-year-old also denied the notion that it’s one of his gnarliest scratches of his career, despite how it looks. “I’ve had a couple of good ones,” he said.

Opponents are launching 3s

Throughout the league, increased 3-point volume has been a major talking point in recent years. It’s no longer out of the ordinary to see a team attempt 40 in a game. But the Nuggets are allowing 38.5 attempts per game, eighth-most in the league this season. With a defense that often shrinks to protect the interior, they’ve been floating around the top-10 in fewest paint points allowed per game. But the ball often gets funneled to the perimeter, as was the case in Charlotte.

The Hornets went 14 of 46 from deep, becoming Denver’s fifth opponent in the last seven games to attempt 42 or more 3-pointers. Those shots enabled them to keep up with Denver’s high-powered offense early in the game, but eventually, the well dried out, like it did for the Hawks on Friday.

The Nuggets can be smart about who they leave open and close out with high effort, of course, but even that can be risky in a league where there’s a premium on 3-point shooting. They’re currently giving up 20.4 wide open 3-point tries per game, according to league data, which is the ninth-most. Fortunately for them, opponents are a pedestrian 34.2% on those looks — the second-lowest clip against any team on wide-open 3s. (Only the Warriors are luckier.)

Ultimately, the Nuggets will never turn down a game with fewer than 110 points allowed. Charlotte’s 106 were the fewest a team has scored against Denver since Indiana on Nov. 8.

Best start in franchise history

The Nuggets improved to 17-6 with the perfect three-game road trip — their winningest first 23 games of a season ever. They’re on a 60.6-win pace, which remains on track to break the franchise record of 57.

They’re about to enter an awkward portion of the NBA calendar that will allow them to rest before a road-heavy January. Eliminated from the NBA Cup, Denver will get three days off before facing Sacramento in a “replacement game,” another three days off before hosting Houston, then two more days off before the normal schedule resumes.

NEW YORK (AP) — Portland Trail Blazers coach, basketball Hall of Famer and former Denver Nuggets player Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges he profited from rigged poker games involving several Mafia figures and at least one other former NBA player.

Feds allege Chauncey Billups was ‘face card’ in high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker scam

The five-time All Star, who won a championship with the Detroit Pistons, was arraigned in a federal court in New York City on money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges, both of which carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. Some of Billups’ co-defendants are also charged with running an illegal gambling business and engaging in an extortion conspiracy.

Chris Heywood, his attorney, has said Billups is a “man of integrity” and denies the charges.

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,” Heywood said after Billups appeared in federal court in Portland, Oregon, when prosecutors first announced the indictment on Oct. 23.

Billups wore a dark gray suit during the brief arraignment and spoke only to answer the judge’s yes or no questions. He has been free on bond since his initial court appearance in Oregon.

Billups was arguably the most prominent name among more than 30 charged in last month’s sprawling of illegal gambling operations linked to professional sports. The other defendants were also expected to appear in the Brooklyn court for Monday’s proceedings, in which the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers will likely discuss next steps in the case.

Prosecutors say the 49-year-old Denver native, who was into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame last year, was involved in a scheme to rig Mafia-backed illegal poker games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons.

Former NBA player and assistant coach was also nabbed in that alleged scheme, which prosecutors say utilized a range of sophisticated technology that allowed the gambling to be rigged, such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in poker chip trays, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table to read cards.

Jones was also charged along with Miami Heat guard in a separate scheme at the same time that allowed gamblers to about players to win bets on NBA games.

Prosecutors say the poker scheme Billups was involved in defrauded victims of an estimated $7 million starting in at least 2019.

They say he served as a celebrity “face card” that could draw wealthy, unsuspecting players to the games. Prosecutors said during one game, the scheme’s organizers exchanged messages saying one of the victims “acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money” because he was “star struck.”

Prosecutors say Billups, who earned about $106 million from his playing days, received a portion of the ill-gotten gains. After one rigged game in October 2020, for example, they say he was directly wired $50,000.

The scheme organizers also had to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno mob families for operating within the illegal poker games run by the New York criminal enterprises, prosecutors said.

Mafia members, in turn, helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, they said.

Billups was selected as the third overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics after starring in college for the Colorado Buffaloes. He played 17 years in the NBA, with stints with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

But he is perhaps in the Motor City, where he earned the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for his knack of making clutch shots.

Billups was named the NBA Finals MVP during the Pistons’ title run in 2004 and had his No. 1 jersey retired by the team.

After retiring in 2014, Billups embarked on a career as a TV analyst before pivoting to coaching.

He was hired as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a with the Trail Blazers earlier this year after the team missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight season in 2024. Billups previously served as an assistant coach on the Los Angeles Clippers.

After his arrest, he was placed on and the Trail Blazers named assistant coach and former NBA player Tiago Splitter as .

Embattled will not receive his salary from the Miami Heat while on leave because of his arrest on federal charges related to a gambling scheme, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Feds allege Chauncey Billups was ‘face card’ in high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker scam

Rozier’s salary — about $26.6 million this season, paid in installments, the first for this season having been due later this week — will be held pending resolution of the legal case, said the people, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the details were not released publicly.

The Heat will not receive any immediate salary cap relief by the NBA’s decision, one of the sources said. If Rozier is cleared and allowed to return to the NBA, which placed him on leave hours after his Oct. 23 arrest, he could receive the held payments in full, one of the sources said.

There are provisions in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that allow the league, in certain situations, to place salary withheld from a player in an interest-bearing account.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups, who has also been placed on leave by the league after his arrest on gambling-related charges last week, is having his salary held by the Trail Blazers as well, one of the sources said. Billups is under contract into at least the 2026-27 season; the team announced that he agreed to a multiyear extension in April.

There was no immediate comment from either the Heat or the Trail Blazers.

Meanwhile, Rozier’s attorney said Wednesday that a federal lien filed with regard to the player’s tax bill in 2021 was satisfied.

The Internal Revenue Service filed that lien against Rozier in November 2023, showing an “unpaid balance of assessment” of $8,218,211.70 for the 2021 tax year. But Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said in an email to the AP that the actual amount owed to the IRS at that time was a sliver of that total.

“There was never a debt of $8 million,” Trusty wrote. “Out of his total taxes owed in 2021 ($8m) he actually owed $9000. That was paid but the now-defunct lien still needs to be pulled from the local courthouse.”

ESPN first reported the lien’s existence. The lien is a public record, and there is no publicly available document showing it has been removed.

Officials in Broward County, Florida — where the lien was filed — did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A call seeking information from an IRS revenue officer was unanswered. Revenue officers work for the IRS to collect delinquent taxes.

Rozier owns a home in Broward County and records show his property taxes have been paid in full each year. That property is about 30 miles from where the Heat play their home games.

Rozier was playing for the Charlotte Hornets during that 2021 tax year and is now on the Heat roster. He, Billups and nearly three dozen other individuals were arrested last week on gambling-related charges detailed in two separate indictments.

Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, has denied the allegations against his client.

Federal officials alleged that Rozier conspired with associates to help them win bets in a game when he was with the Hornets on March 23, 2023 — more than seven months before the lien was prepared and nearly eight months before it was formally filed. Rozier played sparingly in that game and gamblers who wagered that he would finish “under” certain statistical totals won those bets.

The charges against Rozier are similar to what former Toronto player faced before he was banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver in 2024.

Rozier did not play in the final eight games of that 2022-23 season, with he and the Hornets citing a foot injury. The Hornets had several players injured at that time and were already eliminated from playoff contention.

Sportsbooks detected unusual patterns of wagers on the Charlotte game in question — prop bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately brought to the NBA’s attention — and the league probed the matter but did not find enough evidence to conclude that Rozier broke any rules. The NBA, unlike federal law enforcement, does not have subpoena power.

Trusty has said Rozier is “not a gambler” and looks forward to winning the case.

that it is reviewing how sensitive information like injury reports — which are public and updated hourly — should be handled going forward. Members of the House and Senate have both asked the NBA for more information.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on that panel, wrote Silver this week seeking detail “about how the NBA investigated and handled these allegations” and why the NBA allowed Rozier to continue playing.

His ability to bounce back and make all the right moves is being put to an entirely different test by a .

Billups, who was placed on leave as coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was one of more than 30 people arrested last week for what federal law enforcement officials described as their involvement in various illicit gambling activities. The coach was alleged to have participated in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes games with ties to three Mafia families. He also matches the credentials of someone described only as Co-Conspirator 8 in an indictment detailing how some people gave bettors inside information on player health statuses.

“My message to the defendants who’ve been rounded up today is this: Your winning streak has ended,” Joseph Nocella, the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, said in outlining the charges.

Billups’ alleged involvement was stunning for someone with a sterling reputation, earning the NBA’s sportsmanship award in 2009 while playing for his hometown Denver Nuggets.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, who calls Billups his best friend, said he spoke with Billups on the day he was arrested and was encouraged by what he heard during the conversation.

Detroit said he hates to see what Billups is going through as a friend he has had since middle school.

“I think everyone needs to allow due process to happen, and then obviously judgments can be made,” Bickerstaff said on Sunday. “You feel for anyone you’ve known and have a relationship with and know his family well.

“I know he’s going through it,” he added. “It����ap a difficult time for him.”

‘Pressure is nothing new to me’

Billups, who is married and has three daughters, was arrested at his home in Oregon before dawn last Thursday. Hours earlier, the Trail Blazers at home to Minnesota. After tipping off his fifth season in Portland, Billups was asked if he felt pressure because the franchise’s attended the game.

“That pressure thing is nothing to me, man,” Billups said in his on Oct. 22. “I do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. You know that about me by now.”

Billups appeared before a judge in Oregon, and was released from custody on conditions. His attorney, Chris Heywood, denied the allegations.

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom,” Heywood said. “He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.”

The 49-year-old Billups grew up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood and starred in college for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Boston drafted him No. 3 overall in 1997 and he bounced around the league, getting traded during his rookie year twice more over the next two years.

Billups signed with Minnesota in 2000 as a free agent and after two solid seasons, he leveraged his value to sign a $35 million, six-year contract with the Pistons.

Billups was known as Mr. Big Shot

He was known as Mr. Big Shot because of his knack of making clutch shots in the Motor City, where he found his groove as a player and later had his No. 1 Pistons jersey retired as one of the most popular players in any sport in Michigan.

Billups guided Detroit to its third NBA championship in 2004 and the NBA Finals the following year during a run of six straight appearances in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pistons later traded him to Denver for his second stint with the franchise. After Billups went on to play for the New York Knicks and Clippers, he closed his five-time All-Star career in Detroit during the 2013-14 season with more than $100 million in earnings.

Billups started his career as a TV analyst the next year, a role he gave up to pursue a coaching career with the Clippers under Lue. He was hired as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a with the Trail Blazers last April and has a career 117-212 record as an coach in the league.

, in reaction to the arrests of Billups and Miami guard Terry Rozier for their alleged role in gambling schemes, has started a review of how the league can protect not just the integrity of the game but its players and coaches as well.

The league made those revelations in a memo sent to all 30 teams, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed.

The league made those revelations in a memo sent to all 30 teams, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

“Given the spread of legal betting to the majority of U.S. states, the recurrence of integrity issues across sports, and the emergence of novel betting formats and markets, this is an opportune time to carefully reassess how sports betting should be regulated and how sports leagues can best protect themselves, their players, and their fans,” read the memo, sent by the NBA’s legal department.

A pair of indictments were unsealed last week and nearly three dozen people were arrested by federal officials.

Rozier was arrested because federal officials allege he conspired with associates to help them win bets in a game played when he was with Charlotte on March 23, 2023. The charges are similar to what former Toronto player faced before he was banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver in 2024.

Sportsbooks detected unusual patterns of wagers on the Charlotte game in question — prop bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately brought to the NBA’s attention — and the league probed the matter but did not find enough evidence to conclude that Rozier broke any rules.

“While the unusual betting on Terry Rozier’s ‘unders’ in the March 2023 game was detected in real time because the bets were placed legally, we believe there is more that can be done from a legal/regulatory perspective to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues,” the league told its teams. “In particular, proposition bets on individual player performance involve heightened integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny.”

Among the things the league will take a look at: injury reports. The league publishes an injury report every hour, and teams are required to disclose statuses of players within certain windows of time before their next game. The NBA added the injury report several years ago in the interest of transparency.

The injury statuses can be used by bettors to decide which wagers to make — and if gamblers get that information before the rest of the public, it����ap tantamount to insider trading. Former NBA player Damon Jones now faces charges because officials said he tipped off bettors about the health status of two Los Angeles Lakers players. The details in that indictment clearly show that Jones was discussing the availability of LeBron James and former Lakers center Anthony Davis with bettors before their statuses for certain games was known publicly. There is no indication that James or Davis had any knowledge of what Jones was alleged to be doing.

There were other examples of such tipping with other clubs, federal officials said.

“With sports betting now occupying such a significant part of the current sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that players, coaches, and other NBA personnel are fully aware of the dire risks that gambling can impose upon their careers and livelihoods; that our injury disclosure rules are appropriate; and that players are protected from harassment from bettors,” the memo said.

The league also said it is seeking input from teams, if they have any ideas on how to best proceed going forward.

Full disclosure: There are a lot of things the Grading The Week staff will miss about life in the Mile High City without Michael Porter Jr. The hot streaks. The rebounding. The big heart off the court.

But when it comes to the Nuggets’ former foundational wing forward, we might miss his candor the most.

For better or worse, MPJ called it — and calls it — like he sees it.

Some of his truths are a little less, shall we say, politically correct than others, granted. But Mike is Mike. Take him or leave him.

In August, MPJ left us with something to ponder. Something deep. Only at the time, we didn’t know just how deep it was.

“Think about it,” Porter said in an appearance on the ‘One Night With Steiny’ podcast about six weeks ago. “If you could get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my under this one game. I’m going to act like I’ve got an injury, and I’m going to sit out. I’m going to come out after three minutes.’  And they all get a little bag because you did it one game …

“That is so not OK. But some people probably think like that. They come from nothing, and all their homies have nothing.”

It’s not OK. At all. But it makes for a positively chilling — and prescient — read after the FBI indictments levied against Denver icon Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard Damon Jones earlier this week.

MPJ’s betting warning — B

MPJ warned the podcast audience, and us, that more gambling-related stories were coming out of the NBA’s inner circle.

The former Nugget has already lived through one of the bigger league scandals at a personal level. His younger brother Johntay was banned from the league for life in 2024 for admitting that he removed himself from two games in order to help those who had taken the “under” on his statistics.

“The enjoyment of the game isn’t for the game anymore,” MPJ said. “It’s so that people can make money. In reality, way more people are losing money than making money.”

To wit: MPJ’s brother reportedly was taking himself out in order to make some cash back to cover prior gambling debts.

It’s a tale, a sad one, as old as Eddie Cicotte, Art Schlichter and Pete Rose.

Only the landscape has changed. Leagues that eschewed sports betting companies are now business partners with them. DraftKings has a deal with the NBA. on Amazon Prime.

Once the Supreme Court opened the door for legalized sports betting in the United States in 2018, so many horses flew out of so many barns it might be too late to build fences — metaphorical or otherwise.

Thursday’s news might only be the tip of the iceberg, Porter inferred. And, even more chillingly, not just in the NBA.

“It’s bad,” MPJ said. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

He’s probably right about that, too. More’s the pity.

Avs’ Quebec throwbacks — A

On a sunnier note, Team GTW’s checking account is probably about to get a bit lighter. Our resident puck-heads have always had a sweet spot for the old World Hockey Association and its myriad of ghosts. (RIP, Denver Spurs. You, too, Michigan Stags. And Indianapolis Racers. And Cincinnati Stingers.)

So, yeah. Sign us up. Fleur-de-lis forever, baby.

Betting education has now hit Denver again — along with 31 other NFL teams — in the wake of a massive federal indictment that’s caught up several former NBA players and coaches. Chief among them is Denver native and former Nuggets star Chauncey Billups, who has been accused of participating in a Mafia-backed poker game that scammed players out of millions.

Asked Friday if the Broncos had conversations around prop bets, Payton said widespread news of the FBI’s investigation “hits heavy.” Billups stopped by training camp in Denver and Payton called the Portland Trail Blazers head coach a “close friend.”

“You hate it,” Payton said. “So, obviously – none of it����ap worth it.

“And when you look at it, like, the money’s, so,” Payton continued, trailing off. “But that����ap one of the challenges when you invite (gambling), when we made that flip. We gotta be pretty diligent on that.”

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Friday that the NFL Players’ Association also sent out its own notice on gambling to players across the league, reminding players

Payton tight-lipped on fines: On Thursday, NFL executive president of football ops Troy Vincent in a slight kerfuffle with referee Brad Allen after Sunday’s game against New York. In a video capturing Dre Greenlaw’s chase of Allen that led to his one-game suspension, Strnad is also seen making apparent contact with Allen as a postgame celebration ensues.

Payton said he wouldn’t comment on the fine for Strnad and that he’d learned over the years that his opinion on such matters “doesn’t matter.” The Broncos head coach also said he was unaware of any NFL-imposed fines for him after he drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for running onto the field to contest a late pass-interference call in the fourth quarter.

“But thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention,” Payton quipped at a reporter.

Children’s Hospital Colorado unveils new Payton-funded playground: Earlier in the week, the Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHC) .

Payton said he worked “heavily” with the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans — now known as the Manning Family Children’s — back in his time with the Saints, and he and Skylene had taken a tour of the CHC a year and a half ago.

“The outdoor playground was something that we thought would be fantastic,” Payton said Friday.