Roche, a 36-year-old father of three, coaches a middle school team in Arvada. The Faith Christian alum was a Division III All-American kicker, and when the were formed three years ago, he started following the local National Arena League franchise.

His interest peaked last year, when conversations with his Arvada Mustangs players led to his

“I’d watched some of the NAL games last year, and viewing it from a coaches’ perspective who coaches a lot of specialists, I felt like I could still compete,” Roche said. “So I started talking to some of the kids on my team about it. They were super jazzed. They encouraged me to do it and actually showed up to the tryout, so I had a cheering section at the tryout.”

Roche made the team at the open tryout, and then after spending the warm winter kicking at the by his house, he beat out the Spartans’ incumbent for the starting job following training camp.

The kicker is emblematic of the which is filled with talented players who took a winding journey to play for the Denver-based arena football team. Many were college standouts who never got a chance at the next level. Some sniffed the NFL, but didn’t make it.

And with the typical pay around a few thousand dollars for the season, all are playing for the love of the game.

“It’s a labor of love for sure,” explained defensive lineman Sam Hammond, last year’s NAL “A lot of us feel like we’ve got more in the tank and we’re not ready to give up. A lot us, we were on the cusp (of playing in the Canadian Football League, the United Football League or the NFL). But there’s only so many spots, and it’s tough.

“A lot of us still want to make it to the next level. I just try to focus on winning every rep, taking it one rep at a time, one game at a time, putting my best effort out there. That’s what I did in college (as a walk-on turned team captain) at Nevada. I was focused on playing ball, winning, having fun. I’ve gotten back to that, and it’s really rewarding.”

Colorado’s arena football history

The Spartans were founded in 2023 by a former South Dakota State defensive lineman who later played arena football in South Dakota. The Spartans played their first season at Blue Arena in Loveland before moving to the Denver Coliseum last year.

The franchise is one of two Colorado teams in the NAL, along with the , who are in their inaugural season and call the Southwest Motors Events Center home. The , founded in 2017, added three teams this season, bringing its total to nine.

“It definitely seems like the league is gaining some momentum,” Hammond said.

The Spartans and the Punishers are the latest chapter in the spotty history of Colorado arena football, which has been unable to sustain long-term momentum.

The state’s first team was the Denver Dynamite, owned by Nuggets owner Sidney Schlenker. The Dynamite started in 1987 as a charter member of the Arena Football League and played their home games at McNichols Sports Arena. But after winning the inaugural ArenaBowl, instability plagued the Dynamite, which did not field a team in ’88 and by early ’92.

Next came the Colorado Crush, which was owned by John Elway, Pat Bowlen and Stan Kroenke. Elway served as the team’s CEO. The Crush played at Ball Arena (then the Pepsi Center) from 2003-08, winning the ArenaBowl in ’05, and disbanded when the Arena Football League canceled its season in ’09. Even though it was short-lived, the Crush remains the most prominent Colorado arena team, and a popularity benchmark for the Spartans to aim for.

“We want to continue to grow the brand, and the reputation of the league and of Spartan football,” Roche said. “If we could get back to like the days of the Crush in Denver, that would be a really great thing.”

There was also a second iteration of the Colorado Crush, which was not affiliated with the first version. That team, originally known as the Colorado Ice, played in United Indoor Football and the Indoor Football League (IFL) from 2006-17.

While the Spartans are looking to buck the state’s historical impermanence in the sport, they and the NAL also face strong competition across the country, albeit in different markets. There are three other arena leagues in operation: the , which has been operating since 2009, as well as and .

The IFL — which has 14 teams, strong attendance and some legacy AFL franchises — is in a stable spot, but Hammond believes the talent in the IFL and the NAL is comparable.

“The IFL has been around for a good minute, but as (the NAL) builds up its fan base, it’ll be even bigger and better,” Spartans wideout/cornerback/returner Steve Newbold added. “The Spartans are a key part of that effort.”

For the fun, and the film

Some of the Spartans, such as Roche, are settled enough in their lives and careers that playing arena football is a fun hobby on the side, and one their family can share in.

That’s the case for , a Vista Ridge alum who played at Missouri S&T. The wideout participated in rookie camps with the Chiefs, Saints, and Colts, but nothing panned out. He played last season in the IFL.

Spartans QB Paxton Lynch, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick in 2016, convinced his friend Michel to join the Spartans this season. Michel, who coaches a 7-on-7 high school team in Colorado Springs, finally caved when he considered playing in a fun environment compared to what he experienced while trying to break into the NFL. And getting to play with his wife and infant son in the stands was another plus.

“I thought to myself, ‘Why not go out one last time and just have fun doing it?'” Michel said. “My goal is to just have fun playing football again, because it’s a whole lot more pressure and a lot more demanding (in the outdoor pro leagues).”

Other Spartans, like Lynch — who suffered a season-ending knee injury a few games into the season — hope suiting up for the Spartans leads to a chance in a league such as the CFL, the UFL or overseas.

Newbold, one of the top pass-catchers in the NAL each of the last two seasons, fits that mold.��So does��, who acknowledged, “If you can make it in this league, that’s just the first step to moving up.”

“What keeps me playing is just knowing I still have the ability to play,” said Newbold, 28, who played two years in the IFL before arriving in Denver. “With the Spartans, I still have more chances to showcase my talent because I feel like I was overlooked coming off a strong college career ().

“So every time I make a play or catch a TD it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m still here,’ and maybe that will eventually lead to something.”

That’s what Thompson hopes for his players.

The 37-year-old, who entered ownership after his own arena career ended due to knee surgery, wants the Spartans to serve as a springboard to higher-profile, better-paid leagues for those who are good enough.

“I tell guys, ‘I don’t want you to be on my team forever,'” Thompson said. “I want them to get out to , go up to Canada and the CFL. There’s even some cool European leagues. There’s a Mexican football league as well.

“But first, you need film. Because if you can ball out in arena football, you’ve got an opportunity to make some pretty good money (in an outdoor league).”

Components to Spartans’ longevity

While players dream of what they can achieve on the field, off it, Thompson is determined to run the Spartans in a way that can consistently attract players and bolster the franchise’s chances of longevity.

Like most arena teams, the Spartans’ roster is filled with players from across the country. The team provides housing for those players, via an apartment complex on south Broadway as well as another one in Arvada where the Spartans practice. Players are also connected with jobs via the team’s union.

Thompson also provides health insurance for the players, and food is taken care of, too, thanks to partnerships with local restaurants that the players can eat at for free, as well as catered meals on practice and game days.

“I’ve had players come to me in their first year with our organization, and they say, ‘Holy (crap), you guys got some nice housing, because last year I lived with three other guys in a camper,'” Thompson said. “… I want to make sure these guys are taken care of because I need them to show up, and I need them to be comfortable.

“There’s been stories of (arena players) couch-surfing, which is not good for any level of football. And if my weekly check is $250 (which is league minimum), but I’m spending $400 a week on food, then this ain’t working out. But all of that is part of the standard we’re seeking. We’ve got to try to raise that across all of arena football, because it’s going to help us grow as a product.”

Fan experience is paramount for the team, which has drastically elevated attendance since moving from Loveland to Denver.

In Loveland, the Spartans were a secondary tenant in the arena to the American Hockey League’s and thus the minor-league hockey team had priority to host games on Friday and Saturday nights. That left the Spartans playing games on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays, which wasn’t conducive to drawing big crowds.

In their final home game of 2024, the Spartans sold just 140 tickets. But the move to the Denver Coliseum and the ability to play most of their home games on Saturdays spiked attendance. Last season’s regular-season finale drew about 3,400 fans, according to Thompson, and this season’s home opener on April 11 was over 3,000.

The Spartans bill themselves as a cheaper, more intimate way for families to experience professional sports. Thompson, who wants the Spartans to emulate the stability and attendance of the National Lacrosse League as well as the Savannah Bananas’ fan engagement, hopes the team can eventually sell out the

The Spartans put seats on the Coliseum floor to be close to the action, and Thompson encourages his players to dance and interact with the crowd when they make plays in the high-octane, high-scoring game that is arena football. The team is also engaging with its sponsors to develop creative draws, such as giving away 500 free tickets to youth football players during its game on April 18.

“The way we grow is the fan experience is going to be the most important thing, and then that is going to correlate to repeat customers,” Thompson said. “Even if we don’t win an arena championship, but people have fun, they’re going to want to come back and support us the next year.”

This weekend, the sage — retired — is at his 75th consecutive state tournament. And the soothsayer — Tim Yount, the founder of the wrestling publication and rankings service — is at his 37th straight state tournament.

Between Smith and Yount, they have a combined 112 years of experience covering Colorado high school wrestling on its biggest stage. If you want to know anything about the tournament, past or present, the two men who sit right near each other matside along CHSAA’s elevated floor seating are the men to ask.

“Bob is our official wrestling historian, and he shows up every year feeding off the energy of the coaches and the kids,” CHSAA wrestling commissioner John Sullivan observed. “He’s here early in the mornings when our volunteers get here, and he doesn’t leave until the last match is done. There’s not a single major decision I make about the tournament without running it by him.

“And with Tim, you can always see him standing at the table back here (above the mats), trying to watch every single match at the same time. If you miss a match that you wanted to see, you can go up to him and you’ll get the play-by-play — first-round, consolation match, finals match, it doesn’t matter. No one is more on top of the tournament and the state’s wrestlers than him.”

‘The Godfather of Colorado Wrestling’

Smith, 90, and Yount, 61, took different roads to becoming pillars of Colorado wrestling’s annual marquee event.

Smith’s first state tournament came in 1952, when he was a wrestler for Denver North. He qualified for the tournament in three years, including placing fourth as a junior and third as a senior. When he went to wrestle at Colorado State College (now Northern Colorado), where he was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s 115-pound champion in 1958, he came back each year to watch the state tournament.

After college, Smith started a storied coaching career at Wray. In 33 years from ’58 to 1991, Smith’s Eagles won 10 state titles and he coached 39 individual wrestling champions. Wray also was runner-up seven times and third three times, a dynastic success that Smith attributes to a feeder wrestling program that was ahead of its time.

Matt Brown, the Eagles’ current head coach, calls Smith “the Godfather of Colorado wrestling” for the blueprint that he put in place in Wray that other coaches soon copied. Smith coached Brown for three years in high school, and Brown also went through the feeder program where high school wrestlers would coach third through sixth graders for six weeks during a mini-season that culminated in a tournament sponsored by the local VFW chapter.

“It was just Wray kids wrestling Wray kids, long before there was really any peewee wrestling or a youth tournament circuit,” Brown said. “And the little kids, they stayed with the same high schooler as their coach for their four years in the program. It taught the young kids the technique that Bob wanted emphasized, and created pride in the program at all levels.”

During his time at Wray, Smith became an advocate for the sport. In the mid-70s, he led the charge for CHSAA to recognize more placers at the state tournament; as a result, in 1976, the tournament started awarding six places in each weight instead of four.

And Smith was instrumental in getting the state tournament, which was previously held at separate venues for the different classifications, to be unified in one building. That finally happened in 1987 at McNichols Arena, and then the tournament moved to the then-Pepsi Center in 2000, and has been at “The Can” ever since.

“They wouldn’t start giving fifth and sixth place at the state tournament until he raised hell about it and said he was going to buy the awards himself,” Brown said. “I’m sure he probably wrote 500 letters to CHSAA pushing the issue. And he worked just as tirelessly to make sure this tournament finally got the biggest and best venue that it deserved.”

After leaving Wray, Smith became the head coach at Fort Hayes State in Kansas, but would return to the state tournament every season during that nine-year stint to recruit.

In the quarter-century since, Smith has remained a fixture at the tournament, helping with weigh-ins, recognizing the newest class of the Colorado chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame each year, and providing a sounding board for CHSAA as it relates to logistical questions or changes. Three years ago, CHSAA named an MVP honor The Bob Smith Most Outstanding Wrestler Award is now presented in each classification at the conclusion of the tournament.

Smith admits that “I don’t know what 90 is supposed to feel like.”

“Am I addicted to this? Hell yes, you can say that,” Smith said. “I’m a junkie for this.”

‘The go-to source’

But for all of Smith’s historical wisdom, even he admits that Yount “knows the teams and the wrestlers better than I do.”

As part of On The Mat, for the past 32 years, Yount has predicted the individual title winners in every bracket, plus the placers and the top 10 teams.

His success in forecasting the tournament, which is based on in-depth analysis and following all of the state’s top grapplers throughout each season, is impressive. Last year, he correctly predicted 85% of the individual winners, 83% of the placers and had a 90% accuracy in determining who the top 10 teams in each classification would be.

Who needs when you have Yount to track the wrestling?

“I will have parents come up to me and be like, ‘I’m in a (betting) pool with my buddies for the tournament. Can I use your rankings?'” Yount said with a laugh. “Since the beginning, when I started On The Mat with my brother (Kent Yount), I wanted everything in my publication that would raise the profile of this sport. From rankings to interviews and other content, everything that really is important for people to know about for Colorado high school wrestling, we want to cover.”

Yount grew up in a wrestling family in Atwood, Kansas, and was immersed in the sport from a very young age. His first CHSAA state tournament came in 1989, when he had just moved to Denver for an internship with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

That internship led to Yount’s career overseeing sports development for where he has worked for decades. On The Mat has been a passion project all along, and Yount’s signature at the state tournament is standing up at his matside table as he follows every single match with a stack of printed brackets in front of him.

He can often be seen intently studying a match on the other side of the arena from behind his rectangular glasses, only to break his focus and quickly swivel his head to another match when he hears a rise in hooping and hollering from the crowd.

Filling out each bracket by hand is a habit that goes back to his youth wrestling days.

“I’ve been doing that since Day 1,” Yount said. “My mom used to give me a hard time about it when I was a kid. Because I’d be wrestling at a tournament and carrying around (a stack of papers) to fill out the brackets as the tournament progressed. I’ve always loved the stats and data that came with this sport.”

Cherokee Trail head coach Jeff Buck, who is also from Atwood, says Yount is “the go-to source” for Colorado high school wrestling.

“The attention and promotion he has brought to the sport is incredible, and when he’s ranking 14 kids (or more) in each weight class, sometimes that’s all a kid needs is to see his name in those rankings and they start to believe in themselves,” Buck said. “I use the rankings as a (reference tool) as a coach, and all the coaches know he does his research.

“He’s boots-on-the-ground at tournaments, he’s at regionals, he’s always reaching out for results. He’s an indispensable resource for the sport in Colorado — we couldn’t do it without him.”

More tournaments to come

While Yount has developed a near-superpower of watching 12 mats at once, Smith, for the most part, relaxes in his seat and enjoys the show at Ball Arena while Yount scribbles on his brackets.

But every so often, Smith will see something that makes him shout out, or stand up and cheer — especially for his beloved Wray Eagles. The intense coach who built the Wray juggernaut that’s now at a state-best 16 state titles is still within Smith, who’s never been able to stop watching wrestling, even when he’s told he has to leave.

“In his last year at Wray (in 1991), he got kicked out of a small tournament in Kansas — it was his first and only (high school) ejection,” Brown recalled with a smile. “But after he left the gym, we could see him peeking through the circular window on the door. He wasn’t tall enough to see through (standing normally), but we could see him watching matches (on his tiptoes).”

Smith says his stellar 1969 team at Wray stands out in his memory, as the Eagles won the team championship while five individuals won their respective brackets. For Yount, one anecdote he always comes back to is how he saw one wrestler about a dozen years ago transform from winning three matches as a junior to a state champion as a senior.

“That kid worked his butt off in the summer before his senior year. He spent countless hours on the mat, spent time going to tournaments,” Yount said. “Those are the underdog stories that I love tracking, because this sport will often give back what you put into it. That’s why I love it.”

Yount is nearing retirement from his gig with USA Triathlon, which he hopes will help On The Mat “reach new audiences” with an expansion of the site’s coverage. In that way, the end of his main career will allow his side-gig to become his new, full-time job.

As for Smith?

“I’ll keep coming to this tournament until they put me in the box.”

Trump signed an order on Dec. 2 directing the pardon attorney to grant Leiweke clemency, which means there will be no trial to determine his innocence or guilt. Leiweke faced up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine on allegations he violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

“I do not have the words to adequately convey my profound gratitude to President Trump. This has been a long and difficult journey for my wife, my daughter and me. The president has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards,” Leiweke said in a statement.

Leiweke stepped down as CEO of Denver-based Oak View Group in July after a grand jury indicted him for conspiracy to rig the bidding process at the Moody Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which cost $375 million to build. He continues to serve as vice chairman at Oak View, which builds and manages sports venues around the world.

The indictment, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleged that Leiweke, from early 2018 through June 2024, conspired with a competitor, Legends Hospitality, to rig the bidding for the development, management and use of the arena, which opened in April 2022.

Oak View and Legends Hospitality, based in New York, agreed to pay $15 million and $1.5 million in penalties, respectively, in connection with the conduct alleged in the indictment against Leiweke, according to the DOJ. The two companies neither admitted nor denied guilt.

“Timothy Leiweke allegedly led a scheme designed to steer the contract for entertainment services at a public university’s arena to his company. Public contracts are subject to laws requiring an open and competitive bid process to ensure a level playing field,” FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said in a news release in July.

Oak View named Chris Granger as interim CEO after Leiweke stepped down and made the title Granger, earlier in his career, was president of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and the Sacramento Kings.

“We are happy for Tim that he can now put this matter behind him,” a spokesperson for the Oak View Group told media outlets.

While president of the Denver Nuggets in the early 1990s, Leiweke got the ball rolling on what would become the Pepsi Center, now Ball Arena. He is also credited with helping to bring the Quebec Nordiques, the future Colorado Avalanche, to Denver. Leiweke left the Nuggets in 1995 to work with Anschutz Entertainment Group, becoming president and CEO the following year, a role he held until March 2013.

He oversaw the construction of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which serves as home to the Lakers, Kings and Sparks, and a related entertainment district called L.A. Live. He was also behind the O2 Arena in London, the Microsoft Theater in L.A. and the Dignity Health Sports Park, a soccer stadium in Carson, Calif.

He co-founded Oakview Group in November 2015 and moved it to Denver in 2024. The company employs more than 50,000 people and manages and provides services to around 400 arenas globally, according to the company’s website.

Throughout the triumphant show, the 83-year-old McCartney paid tribute with songs, stories and videos, even performing a virtual duet with footage of John Lennon atop the Apple Corps building in 1969 — a.k.a. the Beatles’ final performance — on “I’ve Got a Feeling.”

McCartney is currently 78 shows into his Got Back Tour, which started in 2022 and winds up next month, and on Saturday, he gave the impression he would happily play 78 more. His weathered voice still carries enormous emotional weight, and his guitar, bass, mandolin, ukulele and piano playing (he rocked them all) shot holes in any argument that he’s not still a passionate, disciplined musician.

His three-hour set delved into a mix of Beatles, Wings and solo songs that will be familiar to anyone who saw him play Ball Arena (then called the Pepsi Center) in 2002, 2005 or 2010. At that last show, McCartney was in typically friendly form, also doling out credit to lost friends and lovers as he tore through tracks such as “Day Tripper” and “Got to Get You Into My Life.”

But set lists change, and while we didn’t get any “Paperback Writer” or “Eleanor Rigby” this time around, we did get “Help!” (the concert’s opening song) and a nearly note-perfect “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” That 1967 song, in particular, felt like a gloriously psychedelic outlier in a show that was mostly safe in its selection, if also deeply sweet and sad at times. McCartney’s coy, gentle butt-slapping (his own, of course), trademark surprised-faces, and other improbably charming, boyish touches blurred the decades and tied it all together.

Even if you’ve listened to the studio version 1,000 times, hearing McCartney sing “Band on the Run” or “Hey Jude” in concert is a uniquely stirring experience, and the capacity crowd swayed, raised their phone lights and sang along in unison to the 35-song set. A nimble horn trio beefed up hits such as “Getting Better,” which was backed on the screen by an animation of flowers blooming in a post-apocalyptic American landscape.

Clearly, he’s not lost his sense of humor. Nor has he lost his social conscience, as when he recounted playing a Beatles show in Jacksonville, Fla., where a promoter had planned to racially segregate the audience (the Beatles talked him out of it). He spotted — and spoke Japanese to — a man holding a Japanese sign in the crowd. He brought the nasal growl in “Got to Get You Into My Life” and the face-flushing flames of “Live and Let Die.” In other words, he gave it his all from start to finish.

The banter and asides weren’t exactly a therapist-couch view into his brain. But they didn’t need to be. McCartney’s talent and professionalism would be welcome from any musician, of any age. On Saturday, his earnest warmth added poignance to predictable nostalgia, and reminded us that not only was he a musical legend, but a vigorously living one.

All in all, the Nuggets have reached the playoffs 17 out of 25 seasons in the new millennium, winning 55% of their regular-season games with nine 50-win seasons. They’ve won 12 playoff series. They’ve had only five All-Stars — but three of them have been inducted to the Hall of Fame, while another has three MVP awards and counting.

We all love a round number, so to reflect on the last 25 years of basketball — almost half of the franchise’s existence under the “Nuggets” name — we assembled The Denver Post brain trust to vote on an All-Quarter Century Nuggets Team.

Five of our staffers who cover the Nuggets voted on a First Team and a Second Team. Five players who received votes but didn’t make the 10-man rotation were also included as reserves.

The voting body was made up of yours truly, sports columnist Troy Renck, sports columnist Sean Keeler, sports editor and Nuggets Ink Podcast host Matt Schubert, and photographer and Nuggets Ink producer AAron Ontiveroz. Note: Statistics and accolades before the 2000-01 season were not taken into account in the voting process.

First Team

Point guard: Chauncey Billups (2008-11)

When building a ceremonial fake roster like this, there’s an inherent conflict between longevity with the team and short-term excellence. Mr. Big Shot technically played only one full season in Denver during the 2000s (but more than half of two other seasons). He made the most of his 201 regular-season games, averaging 18.1 points and 5.1 assists. He earned an All-Star nod and finished 12th in 2009-10 MVP voting.

More importantly, in 2008-09, Billups helped lead his hometown team to its first Western Conference Finals appearance in 24 years. The George Washington High School and CU alum shot 46.8% from 3-point range during that 16-game playoff run, averaging 20.6 points and 6.8 assists.

As a result, Billups was a First-Team honoree on all but one ballot. He’s best remembered nationally as a Finals MVP with Detroit, but his significance to Denver basketball history adds to his case here.

Shooting guard: Jamal Murray (2016-present)

One of the best players of his generation to never make an All-Star Game or All-NBA team (yet), Murray lacks the on-paper success of a few other Nuggets stars this century. Yet his status in franchise history is undeniable: He was one of three unanimous First-Team honorees in our vote.

Murray established a reputation as the quintessential “playoff riser” in the 2020 bubble, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NBA into quarantine. His battles with Donovan Mitchell were legendary. His iron will contributed to six consecutive wins in elimination games as Denver made it back to the WCF for the first time since 2009.

The torn ACL that knocked Murray out of two postseasons remains a major “what if” in Nuggets history. Could they have won the 2021 or 2022 championship with a healthy star guard? In his first season back from the injury, Murray was the ceiling-raiser Denver needed during a dominant run to the championship. His and Nikola Jokic’s dueling 30-point triple-doubles in Game 3 of the NBA Finals will immortalize Murray no matter what the future holds. He also had a not-so-sneaky case for Western Conference Finals MVP that year: 32.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

Small forward: Carmelo Anthony (2003-11)

It’s complicated, we know. But Carmelo erasure is just plain irresponsible. He was too good, too important to an entire era of Denver basketball. When you envision the baby blue uniforms, you probably think of him first.

Anthony saved the Nuggets before he walked out on them (if that’s what you want to call it). They were on a streak of eight consecutive losing seasons when they drafted him third overall in 2003. Then they proceeded to make the playoffs in all seven seasons he finished with Denver. The first-round exits are certainly part of his legacy, but he brought back competitive basketball after a decade of futility.

Anthony played more games for the Nuggets (564) than for any other team, including the Knicks. He was a four-time All-NBA honoree in Denver, a four-time All-Star. He averaged 24.8 points and 6.3 rebounds. He got the team within two wins of the NBA Finals against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers. Then came the infamous 2011 trade, the origins of which are still being litigated on podcasts and social media to this day. Much less controversial was Anthony’s First-Team status here. He was unanimous.

Power forward: Aaron Gordon (2021-present)

Nikola Jokic described Gordon during the 2025 playoffs as “the soul of this team.” Trading for the former Orlando Magic first option elevated the Nuggets to a new echelon of championship contention. In four full seasons (so far), he has morphed his play style to complement Jokic, transforming into a super-role player and becoming a fan favorite in the process. Hence his place here, with three First-Team votes.

The stats don’t jump off the page, but the versatility is unparalleled. Gordon is a power forward in the traditional sense, but the Nuggets have used him as a point guard, a center, and almost everything in between.

He cemented his legacy this year with a pair of memorable game-winning buckets: the first buzzer-beater slam dunk in NBA playoff history, and a 3-pointer to complete a stunning comeback in Oklahoma City. Even though Denver didn’t win the title, fans will relive those moments for decades.

Center: Nikola Jokić (2015-present)

Awkward yet graceful, perpetually battle-scarred by his dominant physicality yet possessed by a preference for finesse, Jokic is a revolutionary center. His spot on this roster was always going to be the most obvious and anticlimactic. The more suitable topic for him is where he lands in relation to John Elway and Joe Sakic on the list of greatest athletes in Denver sports history.

Ten years in, he’s still adding to the following accolades: three MVPs, an NBA Finals MVP, seven consecutive All-NBA teams (five of them First-Team recognition). He just joined Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to average a triple-double in a season. He’s on pace to break Westbrook’s career triple-doubles record. He’s the first player since Larry Bird to finish top-two in MVP voting five straight years. We could go on, but this paragraph might be outdated soon.

What can’t be expressed in those numbers is the lasting impact of the Joker: No basketball player has ever brought Coloradans as much joy and wonder.

Second Team

Point guard: Ty Lawson (2009-15)

Two Second-Team spots required a tiebreaker, including this one. A pair of us voted for Lawson, another pair for Andre Miller. The only person who omitted both from his ballot was Ontiveroz,��so he was consulted for the deciding vote and chose Lawson, citing the “pure excitement” of watching him. Lawson averaged 14.4 points and 6.2 assists over six years in Denver. He finished 12th in MVP voting as the star of a 2012-13 Nuggets team that won 57 games — still tied for the most in franchise history.

Shooting guard: Allen Iverson (2006-08)

Another case of short-term elite play over longevity, Iverson played only 135 games as a Nugget but is technically in a club with Jokic, Anthony and Billups as the only players this century to represent Denver at multiple All-Star Games. In his one full season with the team, he averaged 26.4 points and 7.1 assists. Iverson received one First-Team vote in this exercise (over Billups).

Small forward: Michael Porter Jr. (2018-25)

MPJ is the fourth member of the championship team to make the cut. Recently traded to Brooklyn, his time in Denver was characterized by immense medical resilience. Porter overcame three back surgeries to average 16.2 points and 6.4 rebounds over 345 games, many of them while wearing a brace on his foot. He ranks second in franchise history in 3-pointers (843) behind Murray, and he made them at a 40.6% clip.

Power forward: Nenê (2002-12)

The initial vote was deadlocked between Nene and Kenyon Martin, both of whom received one First-Team and one Second-Team vote. Keeler was assigned the tiebreaking vote in this case, and he chose the Brazilian forward who spent a decade in Denver. In 555 games, Nene averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds, registering career-highs in both statistics during the 2008-09 season when Denver reached the conference finals.

Center: Marcus Camby (2002-08)

Center was the only position where all five voters agreed on the First- and Second-Team selections. Camby led the league in blocks per game three times in his six years with Denver. He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006-07, making him the franchise’s only player to win the award since Dikembe Mutombo.

Reserves

An NBA roster isn’t complete without 15 players, so the All-Quarter Century Team has room for a Third Team made up of the following leftover vote-getters: Andre Miller, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danilo Gallinari, Kenyon Martin and Antonio McDyess (a 2001 All-Star).

“Timothy Leiweke allegedly led a scheme designed to steer the contract for entertainment services at a public university’s arena to his company. Public contracts are subject to laws requiring an open and competitive bid process to ensure a level playing field,” said the FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia in a . “The FBI is determined to ensure that those who disregard fair competition principles do not benefit from a rigged bidding process targeting our communities and public institutions.”

The indictment, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that Leiweke, from early 2018 through June of last year, conspired with a competitor to rig the bidding for the development, management and use of the arena, which opened its doors in April 2022.

In September 2017, Leiweke is alleged to have told colleagues that he learned a competitor, Legends Hospitality, was going to bid against Oak View on the University of Texas project and that he wanted to find a way to funnel business to the rival firm to “get them to back down.”

By February 2018, Leiweke and his rival CEO allegedly reached an agreement where Legends would not submit a bid in return for receiving subcontracts, according to the indictment. That allowed Oak View to submit the sole qualified bid, resulting in an ongoing and significant revenue stream, according to the Department of Justice.

Oak View and Legends Hospitality, based in New York, have agreed to pay $15 million and $1.5 million in penalties, respectively, in connection with the conduct alleged in the indictment against Leiweke, according to the DOJ. Legends Hospitality and its CEO were not indicted.

“Oak View Group cooperated fully with the Antitrust Division’s inquiry and is pleased to have resolved this matter with no charges filed against OVG and no admission of fault or wrongdoing. We support all efforts to ensure a fair and competitive environment in our industry and are committed to upholding industry-leading compliance and disclosure practices,” the

Leiweke is stepping down as CEO of the company he co-founded, but will stay on as vice chairman of the board of directors and remain a shareholder. Chris Granger, president of OVG 360, will serve as interim CEO. Granger, earlier in his career, was president of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and the Sacramento Kings.

“It has been my great honor to help found and lead OVG as it has grown into the special, customer-oriented company it is today. While I’m pleased the company has resolved its Department of Justice Antitrust Division inquiry without any charges filed or admission of wrongdoing, the last thing I want to do is distract from the accomplishments of the team or draw focus away from executing for our partners, so the Board and I decided that now is the right time to implement the succession plan that was already underway and transition out of the CEO role,” Leiweke said in a .

In a statement to CNBC, spokesman for Leiweke said, “Mr. Leiweke has done nothing wrong and will vigorously defend himself and his well-deserved reputation for fairness and integrity.”

“The Antitrust Division’s allegations are wrong on the law and the facts, and the case should never have been brought,” the spokesman continued to CNBC. “The law is clear: vertical, complementary business partnerships, like the one contemplated between OVG and Legends, are legal.”

While president of the Denver Nuggets in the early 1990s, Leiweke showed an aptitude for arena planning. In 1994, he announced plans for a new multi-team venue and handled early negotiations with the city on a public-private venture and site location, which eventually resulted in the Pepsi Center, now Ball Arena, in 1999.

He is also credited with playing a key part in helping bring the Quebec Nordiques, the future Colorado Avalanche, to Denver. Leiweke left the Nuggets in 1995 to work with Anschutz Entertainment Group, becoming president and CEO the following year, a role he held until March 2013.

He oversaw the construction of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which serves as home to the Lakers, Kings and Sparks, and a related entertainment district called L.A. Live. He was also behind the O2 Arena in London, the Microsoft Theater in L.A. and the Dignity Health Sports Park, a soccer stadium in Carson, Calif.

Oak View Group, which Leiweke co-founded in November 2015, employs more than 50,000 people, managing and providing services to 400 arenas around the globe. It also has $5 billion committed to new arena developments, according to the company’s website.

Oak View’s project portfolio includes the Climate Pledge Arena for the NHL’s Kraken in Seattle; the UBS Arena for the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., and Co-Op Live in Manchester, England,�� a music and sports venue slated to become the largest in Europe once completed.

Leiweke relocated Oak View to Denver last summer. Although he has an affinity for Denver, where he spent a good part of his career, the move also would have put his company in a stronger position to bid on any new stadium that the Denver Broncos might be considering.

Leiweke is charged with a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine, which can be increased to twice the gain derived or twice the loss suffered by victims, according to the Department of Justice.

Documents submitted to the city Monday by the owner of Ball Arena and the professional sports teams that play there — the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets — are part of a larger plan to turn 56 acres of land that is mostly surface parking lots into commercial and residential properties and open space.

The entire project is expected to include up to 6,000 new housing units, with 18% of those qualifying as affordable housing, as well as a new city recreation center, retail space and a park with walking and biking trails surrounding the sports arena.

The hotel, two residential buildings and concert venue would be bordered by Speer Boulevard on the east, Chopper Circle on the north and west, and Wynkoop Way on the south. The roughly 4-acre site would be just east of Ball Arena.

A two-branched pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Speer would connect the development to Lower Downtown. Each branch of Wynkoop Crossing will be 20 feet wide and the bridge, which would hover 18 feet above Speer Boulevard, is planned to start at a parking lot adjacent to the children’s playground along Speer, said Mike Neary, executive vice president of business operations and real estate for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, or KSE.

Neary said in an email that the bridge’s design aims to evolve the existing arched bridges on Speer through a contemporary interpretation of the arches and “thoughtfully integrating” the color and materials.

The bridge would connect historic LoDo, home to the Coors Field baseball stadium, to the Ball Arena development.

“The redevelopment’s ability to stitch together the adjacent Lower Downtown neighborhoods is contingent on a safe, pedestrian-focused crossing of Speer Boulevard,” Neary said.

Wynkoop Crossing will connect the arena site to downtown and create a new destination in the area, Neary added. “It will also serve as a new iconic gateway and a symbolic and a vital physical connection between downtown and our dynamic new development.”

The hotel would have 244 guest rooms as well as eating and drinking spots, and retail. One of the residential buildings would have 160 units and the other would have 140.

Matt Mahoney, KSE’s senior vice president of development, told , that the company is “going through this submittal process with Denver, and a lot of the feedback that we’ll be receiving over the next few months will really help determine a final outcome.”

The plan says the performance venue would be 173,595 square feet. Mahoney told BusinessDen it would have about 5,000 seats and complement the 20,000-seat Ball Arena.

The city will have to administratively approve the concept plan before KSE can submit a site development plan, apply for building permits and fulfill other requirements, said Sarah Barwacz, spokeswoman for Denver Community Planning and Development.

The Kroenkes own 80% of the property included in the overall project area. The Auraria Higher Education Center, the Regional Transportation District and Xcel Energy also have interest in the land.

In 2024, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche team president Josh Kroenke signed a deal tying the franchises to Ball Arena and the land around it through 2050. The Denver City Council earlier gave key approvals for a massive redevelopment on the site.

Billionaire Stan Kroenke — Josh’s father — bought the arena, then named Pepsi Center, along with the Avalanche and Nuggets, for a combined $450 million in 2000.

Updated April 22 at 7 p.m. to add comments from Kroenke and Sports Entertainment.

In signing a revised agreement with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, the Kroenke family added 20 years to their legal commitment to the city.

It came at a time when sports owners and municipal officials regularly have knock-down, drag-out fights over financing for stadiums, and even teams with decades of history in their cities, like the Oakland Athletics, are willing to decamp for communities willing to pony up more dough. The Kroenkes are no strangers to team relocation controversies. Stan Kroenke and the NFL with stakeholders in St. Louis for $790 million in 2021 after he moved the Rams football franchise back to the Los Angeles area.

In this case, the extended commitment hinged on the council passing legislation on Monday night that cleared the way for lucrative development to unfold in coming decades. The acres of parking lots that surround the 25-year-old arena today are expected to transform over the next 30 years or so into a mixed-use urban neighborhood.

Under the terms of that legislation, it would feature more than 1,000 units of affordable housing (among 6,000 total units), a child care center, public art space and ample job opportunities for people from low-income Denver neighborhoods. Those plans were aided, in part, by the council’s exemption of the site from the strictures of a nearby view plane that would have restricted building heights in some places.

“This project will bring together our expertise in sports and real estate development in a way which (will) help us deepen our connection to the city and the community as a whole, as we continue to impact the region,” Josh Kroenke said during a news conference on the club level of the arena. “I’d like to personally thank Mayor Johnson, the City Council and the people of Denver for trusting us with such a massive project.”

Fresh off a public hearing lasting nearly four hours the night before, Matt Mahoney, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment’s senior vice president for development, said in an interview that he expected the multi-phase project to begin with a focus on better connecting the 70-acre property with existing downtown neighborhoods to the east.

“Solving the Speer Boulevard barrier is a priority for (ownership) and for us,” Mahoney said, referring to the thoroughfare that separates the arena grounds from downtown to the east.

He emphasized that while surface parking lots will be going away — eventually — KSE expects parking structures to add even more event parking than the more than 4,000 spaces the company offers visitors today.

The terms of the larger deal include the right for KSE to build a new arena on the same property or nearby, on the grounds now occupied by Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park — which is slated for a separate redevelopment project.

Tuesday’s event was less about delving into the specifics of development plans and community benefit agreements and more about celebrating the completion of a planning and negotiation process that goes back years.

Stan Kroenke — Josh’s father — purchased what was then the Pepsi Center, along with the Avs and Nuggets, in 2000, just months after the arena opened. As the younger Kroenke pointed out Tuesday, both of those teams and the family’s Colorado Mammoth lacrosse team have now won championships while calling the building home.

In Denver, the Kroenkes plan to blend their knack for building winning sports franchises with their penchant for landscape-shifting urban development, as they did with SoFi Stadium and its surroundings in Southern California.

“I think this may be one of the most important days for sports fans in Denver history,” Johnston said ahead of the agreement signing.

A diehard Colorado sports fan, the mayor brought his own jersey — that of Avalanche star and reigning NHL MVP Nathan MacKinnon — to the event.

“Our shared vision is to say this is not just a place … where you can come and see a great game, but there’ll be a sea of parking lots around them,” he said. “This will now be a fully activated neighborhood where folks can live, they can come play in a park, they can come see concerts. And yes, you can see three of the best sports franchises in the country, all at the same location.”

“While in Denver, I stopped by the @TatteredCover Book Store and signed some copies of #TheLightWeCarry,” . “I’ve enjoyed doing these surprise bookstore visits throughout the year – and this time I decided to bring some folks from my team along with me!”

While in Denver, I stopped by the Book Store��and signed some copies of . I’ve enjoyed doing these surprise bookstore visits throughout the year –��and this time I decided to��bring some folks from my team along with me!
��
Which bookstore should I stop…

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama)

In a video posted by Obama, the former first lady is shown walking into the Tattered Cover on Colfax Avenue, pulling a pen out of her purse and signing copies of her book laid out on a display table.

“If anybody goes to the Tattered Cover Book Store and finds them, let us know,” Obama said in the video. “Let us know that you actually received one of the signed book copies.”

The last time Obama visited the Denver bookstore was in 2018 for a signing of her book “Becoming” before she spoke at the Pepsi Center, now Ball Arena, and visited Children’s Hospital Colorado.

“Hopefully the next time I talk to you, maybe it’ll be somewhere in the country at a bookstore near you,” Obama said. “Until then, you guys be good and remember to vote, vote, vote.”

Since 1990, a span of 35 NBA Finals, the Wild West has been repped by the top seed 18 different times — most recently in 2023, when a certain Denver team with a pretty good center from Serbia wound up winning the whole thing.

On the other hand, the kids up in the Grading The Week offices are still having a hard time shaking the postseason memories from this past spring out of our collective noggins. And that goes double for May 2019, when it felt as if CJ McCollum, then with Portland, turned up at Ball Arena and couldn’t miss.

We also can’t help wondering if Kentavious Caldwell-Pope might be onto something.

In case you missed it, the former Nuggets guard appeared on Draymond Green’s podcast this past Wednesday and made no bones about why the defending NBA champs spent so much time looking as if they were sleepwalking against the Lakers and Timberwolves: They were, in fact, pooped.

“I feel like that����ap where we spent most of our energy and time, trying to get that first-place (seeding),” KCP, who recently signed a free-agent deal with the Orlando Magic, told Green. “We get to the playoffs, we had no gas. We felt like the Lakers should’ve beat us, we (were) down every game.”

Nuggets pushing too hard for a 1 seed — C

Coach Michael Malone almost immediately admitted that he’d pushed the pedal to the metal and rode his stars in April to clinch the top seed, and home court, throughout the Western Conference bracket.

In Malone’s defense, as we noted, the No. 1 seed in the West has reached the NBA Finals since 1990 more than the other seven seeds combined. Plus, the atmosphere and altitude at Ball Arena are traditionally a challenge for opposing teams’ collective lungs and eardrums. The Sixth Man at 5,280 feet rarely fails.

Although “rarely” doesn’t mean “never.” And the last decade of postseason play has started to knock conventional wisdom squarely on its backside.

The bottom-line argument for owning a home-court advantage is being able to play that card in Game 7, to settle a nasty series within friendly confines. Yet since the start of the 2016-17 season, we’ve had 21 non-pandemic Game 7s in the NBA Playoffs. The home teams are 9-12 in those win-or-go-fishing showdowns.

And since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, there’ve been 12 postseason Game 7s. The home team’s gone 4-8. Over the last decade, the Nuggets are 1-2 all-time as Game 7 hosts. It’s enough to make you wonder if fresh legs, come mid-May, are a better arrow to have in your quiver.

Leaner Javonte Williams — A-minus

Full disclosure: Team GTW has always had a soft spot for the Broncos’ big No. 33. So hats off to Williams for admitting recently that he’s gotten a little less big and has fewer, you know, soft spots around the belly.

While Williams credits his coach with the suggestion he slim down to his current fighting weight of 221 pounds, we’ll bet you a Snickers bar, given what we’ve learned of Sean Payton’s (cough) subtlety (cough) when it comes to criticism, that even a little constructive fat-shaming didn’t feel great. But if it gives ����apountry more runs like the one Williams famously pulled off against Baltimore — — in October 2021, we’ll all raise a toast (of water) to no snacks after 7 p.m.

Takis — F

Mind you, the GTW crew is also pretty sure Williams’ agent groaned when his client cited the specific snack brand — Takis — that helped contribute to the running back’s weight gain. Pro athlete rule No. 712: Never throw a company that might hand you a sweet endorsement deal under the nearest bus. Points to Javonte for speaking truths, though, especially if it means more snaps for him and more Habanero Fury Kettlez — — for the rest of us.