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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LeBron James could be a Nugget.

A fever dream became more rooted in reality when agent Rich Paul confirmed his client’s interest in the Nuggets on his “Game Over” podcast with Max Kellerman.  Paul used a whiteboard to list 10 suitors for LeBron.

Five made the inner circle. The Nuggets were among them, joined by Cleveland, Philadelphia, Miami and Minnesota.

Of course, the Nuggets could be getting played, winking back at James as the Cavs hang “Welcome Home” banners outside Rocket Arena.

But when Kellerman asked quizzically if the Nuggets were a legitimate destination, Paul responded, “(They) wouldn’t be on the whiteboard (if they weren’t).”

Taking Paul at his word — always dangerous with any agent — the Nuggets must take the hint.

It’s time to put on a full-court press for James. Time for the Kroenkes to be all in.

Go for the old. Go for the bold. Go for the gold.

Want to place soothing balm on three years of disappointing playoff finishes? Chase after a legend whose addition would shake our state’s sports landscape to its core.

Anything less than an open-throttle pursuit is disingenuous. All talk of championship windows with Nikola Jokic comes across as hollow if the Nuggets watch this parade from the curb.

To be clear, this July is not about James. It is about Stan and Josh Kroenke. As the Nuggets owner and president, they hold the PIN numbers to the ATM and the keys to the locker room.

There is no guarantee the Nuggets will get LeBron James. But it is 100% certain they won’t without the Kroenkes being all in.

If there was ever a reason to go into the second apron and absorb the repeater tax, this is it.

James likes the Nuggets. He is friends with Josh Kroenke. And he respects KSE’s sports empire of championships delivered by the Nuggets, Avalanche, Rams and Arsenal.

Even with all the cringeworthy things James does and the massive attention he brings, this is an opportunity that cannot be dismissed.

If James is seriously considering the Nuggets over the coming days, the question is simple: If the Kroenkes cannot be bothered to recruit James, the NBA’s all-time scorer and, to the younger generation, the sport’s greatest ever, then why play the season? Why compete? Just call the second apron a hard cap and be done with it.

There have long been pros and cons to bringing on James. He sucks the oxygen out of every room. He becomes the hub of the universe. And, when not happy, he can take out the coach or hold a franchise hostage with his whims.

What makes this different is the timing. Season 24 sets up as James’ last, especially given the Hoops Hype report that the four-time MVP has discussed filming a documentary about the campaign.

James is a lot. But no longer for a lot. Or for a long time.

All indications are that he is prioritizing happiness over money in his next contract. Of course, that means winning, too. And Paul drew the names of Jamal Murray, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon and Jokic as an enticing foursome James could join.

Peyton Watson was curiously absent. He is also Paul’s client, so perhaps it was a coded message, a reminder that Johnson might need to go to pay Watson his worth.

Typically, I spray cold water on stories like this. I covered Alex Rodriguez nearly signing with the Rockies in 2000 before he accepted a quarter billion from the Texas Rangers. Smart agents — no one is better than Scott Boras — create markets out of sand pits and leverage mysterious teams into more money.

The reason this has legs is because of the fit.

James excels at the two-man game. No team is better at this than the Nuggets. Jokic and LeBron would not play basketball; they would give nightly recitals. Put LeBron on the wing and let Jokic find him. It would represent the most unselfish pairing of superstars the league has ever seen.

Want to convince LeBron to become a Nugget? Mention Jokic. Over and over.

Want to convince Jokic that being a Nugget still matters? Sell out to sign LeBron.

Jokic was in favor of bringing in Russell Westbrook. There is no reason to believe he would not open his arms to the 41-year-old.

James to the Nuggets conjures memories of Peyton Manning choosing the Broncos. An all-time great aiming for a final championship.

Current BetOnline numbers give the Nuggets 10-to-1 odds of signing James.

Some fans wish they were longer. It is a fascinating wrinkle to this story that James would have to win over the Mile High City. Playing for the Lakers for the last eight seasons made him the enemy.

He won a single ring with the Lakers in 2020, knocking out the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals in the bubble. When posting Paul’s whiteboard on my Facebook page, the comments against James came in fast and furious, calling the idea “Bad News,” “Not worth $30 million,” and “No please.”

The anger is understandable. James’ fine whine in playoff series against the Nuggets has left footprints on fans’ brains.

Here is how I see it. The Nuggets have the money. They have the roster. They have the pedigree. But to unseat the Spurs and Thunder, they need an impact player.

There is no one on the market who covers all the bases like James. Injuries will be a concern. So will the distractions. And his workload must be managed to make sure he is rested for the postseason.

All the talk of running it back and staying healthy can no longer insult our intelligence. It reached that flash point with me during Game 3 against the Timberwolves.

James is available. He is interested. The ball is in the Kroenkes’ court.

The time is now to pursue The King, for Jokic, for a realistic chance at another championship.

“Very nice,” he said, giving me a wry, knowing smile and a short laugh.

Some background is definitely required here.

In 2014, Weiss was managing the Rockies on a hazy, humid September Sunday morning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Somehow, Weiss, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, and I started talking about our 1970s crushes. We mentioned, of course, Farrah Fawcett and her famous poster, Cheryl Tiegs and her poster, as well as other supermodels and Hollywood stars. I said I once had a poster of pop singer Linda Ronstadt.

Then came the bombshell.

“I had a crush on Barbara Streisand,” Thomas said. “I thought she was hot.”

Walt and I were aghast. As Walt pointed out, “Babs” had a nose like his own. No way Thomas was telling us the truth, right? To this day, insists he was.

The kicker came after the Rockies lost to the Cardinals that day. Walt pulled us aside and said, “You know, when I was going out to the mound to make a pitching change, I kept thinking about Barbra Streisand. Thanks a lot, Thomas.”

The point of my ramble down memory lane? My nearly 28-year career at The Denver Post ends Wednesday when the Rockies host the Red Sox at Coors Field. I’ve covered World Series, Super Bowls, Final Fours, Nuggets games and scores of high school state championships alongside Kyle Newman. In the end, my fondest memories are not about games, highlight reels, strategy, upsets, or scoops. My fondest memories are about people. It’s what I wrote about best.

Being a baseball beat writer is the most gratifying of any of the major sports beats, in my humble opinion. You get to know the people, from owners and managers to players and clubbies to broadcasters and fellow writers. Meanwhile, the walls between the NFL and the media grow thicker and taller with each passing year. I can’t imagine Broncos beat writers talking about their boyhood crushes with coach Sean Payton.

I was hired by The Post in October 1998, joining Adam Schefter as a Broncos No. 2 beat writer, just in time to cover John Elway’s second Super Bowl title. In the summer of 2005, I was yanked off the Broncos beat and moved to the Rockies, as the No. 2 writer behind current Post columnist Troy Renck. It was a demotion for me, no doubt.

My wife, Nancy, and I were shocked by the grind of the baseball beat, especially back in the days when The Post still traveled to cover the Rockies. We eventually embraced the lifestyle, though it wasn’t easy.

Covering a team afflicted with chronic losing wasn’t easy either. I covered the Rockies for nearly 20 years, and during that time, they had five winning seasons, made the playoffs four times, and made one magical run to the World Series in 2007.

I’ve had to rewrite more deadline game stories than I can count. The adage in the Coors Field press box: “The Rockies blew another lead. And they blew another lede.”

But, all in all, it’s been quite a wonderful ride. What follows are excerpts from some of my favorite stories I wrote for The Post. The common theme is people.

McCaffrey family legacy

When I started covering the Broncos, first for the Longmont Times-Call and then with The Post, training camp was still held at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. The players stayed in one dorm, the media in another, and we shared the same cafeteria. Access to the players was incredible. I once interviewed Elway while riding in a golf cart as the fans screamed for autographs — Elway’s, not mine.

That’s how I got to know wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and his wife, Lisa. In 1999, I profiled their family’s rich sports legacy:

When 5-year-old Max McCaffrey plays soccer, his 3-year-old brother, Christian, can’t bear to watch.

“Christian is always trying to run out on the field to be with his big brother,” his dad said. “We have to keep reeling him back in.”

Christian can’t help it. The need for speed, the energy driving his little motor, the desire to follow the bouncing ball — they’re in his genes.

His grandfather won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Uncle Billy became a legend in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt and later won a national basketball championship with the Duke Blue Devils.

When she was a pixie in South Florida, Christian’s mom scored so many goals for her high school soccer team that her mug shot ended up in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd.”

Christian’s dad? All he’s done is win three Super Bowl rings, earn a trip to the Pro Bowl, develop a stiff-arm that could stop a rhinoceros, become one of the best receivers in Denver Broncos history and destroy forever the notion that white men can’t run.

Arenado’s SoCal roots

In 2016, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was a budding star. I traveled to his boyhood home of Lake Forest, in Orange County, California. While the Rockies hosted the Blue Jays at Coors Field, I sat in the living room of Fernando and Millie Arenado as they watched the game on TV. It was a remarkable day, topped off with a trip to El Toro High School, less than 10 minutes from the Arenado home. I spent an hour reminiscing with Mike Gonzalez, Arenado’s high school coach.

Here’s the beginning of my story about Arenado’s baseball roots:

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — The trim, stucco home looks like many others in this quiet, middle-class Southern California neighborhood. There is a basketball hoop out front and a beautifully tiled swimming pool in the backyard.

Step inside and you’re enveloped by warmth. Family photos cover every wall, every shelf, every nook and cranny. The family dog, a white Havanese named Mojito (“Mo” for short), hops up on the comfy couch to greet visitors.

Baseball is everywhere, too. Indeed, the home is something of an impromptu museum. Near the TV in the living room sits Nolan Arenado’s gleaming 2015 Silver Slugger Award. Open a nearby cabinet, and one of Arenado’s three Gold Glove Awards sits among a sea of memorabilia.

Likely more baseball stuff will be added after Tuesday night����ap All-Star Game in San Diego, where Arenado, the Rockies’ third baseman, will be appearing, the second year in a row he was voted in by fellow major-league players. Who knows? Perhaps an All-Star Game MVP trophy will be his newest baseball heirloom. At the very least, his All-Star Game jersey will find a place in the Arenado home.

Upstairs is the “Bonus Room,” as the family calls it. In the middle sits a pool table, now overflowing with framed photos, jerseys and signed baseballs. On the couch in front of a big-screen TV sits a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet. Back in the day, Arenado wore it while playing video games.

A day in the life of Buddy Black

I covered five managers in my time with the Rockies: Clint Hurdle, a force of nature and philosophy; Loquacious Jim Tracy, one of the nicest men I’ve ever met; Weiss, a fellow Bruce Springsteen fanatic; Bud Black, a walking baseball encyclopedia who’s beloved throughout the game; and current manager Warren Schaeffer, full of incredible passion and heart.

Of all of the Rockies’ managers, I know Black the best. We’re near the same age and share the same sense of humor. We still text frequently. In 2018, in the midst of a race for the National League West title, Black allowed me to go behind the scenes and chronicle a day in the life of a big-league manager:

It����ap the second week of September, the Rockies are chasing their first division title, and Bud Black has former Bronco Peyton Manning on his mind.

He’s trying to figure out a way to get the legendary quarterback to appear in a video that would play on the giant scoreboard at Coors Field as the Rockies make their run to a possible National League West crown.

“I want Peyton, waving his arms up and down, to get the crowd going,” Black says. “Hey, we don’t care about the snap count! We want it loud! ‘Omaha! Omaha!’ ”

Later in the afternoon, he’ll call in Julian Valentin, the director of social media, to see if there has been any progress on Project Peyton. (Valentin tells Black that it����ap being looked into).

Black’s office, down the hallway from the players’ spacious clubhouse, contains a comfy black-leather couch and a tidy desk. Photographs of Coors Field adorn the walls, including one that captures the joy of a young boy watching a game. Encased in a glass frame is the lineup and a baseball from Black’s first game as Rockies manager. It����ap dated April 3, 2017, a game in which the Rockies beat the Brewers at Milwaukee, 7-5.

Black has plenty on his to-do list, though he goes about his chores with a relaxed, easy manner. Colorado’s second-year manager, age 61, plans to watch video, meet with his coaches, chat with some players and confer with head trainer Keith Dugger. The night before, the Rockies hammered the Diamondbacks, 13-2. With nothing to stew over and no second-guesses haunting him, he got an excellent night����ap sleep. Today, he’s open to having a reporter shadow him, from arriving at the ballpark just after noon through another critical game that night vs. Arizona.

Helton gets the call

Todd Helton is the greatest player in Rockies history. He’s a complex, moody, smart and extremely funny man. His sense of humor can be cutting and takes some getting used to. Somehow, we bonded.

In January 2024, Helton invited Thomas and me to his home outside Knoxville, Tenn., to be there with his family and close friends when he got the call that he’d been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. We all figured he’d get in, but there were no guarantees. It turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my career:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Todd Helton, arms folded across his chest, nervously paced the living room of his home Tuesday afternoon.

“I haven’t been superstitious for 10 years, not since I retired,” the Rockies’ iconic first baseman said. “Today, I’m superstitious. I didn’t look at anything, I didn’t watch anything, I didn’t look at the internet.”

He could have spared himself the angst.

Because, fittingly, at 5:17 p.m. Eastern time, No. 17 got the call of a lifetime. Told that he had been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Helton pumped his fist and finally took a deep breath.

“It����ap the greatest honor you can get as a baseball player,” Helton said. “Getting your number retired and getting elected to the Hall of Fame are the two greatest achievements you can get.”

Still, Helton wasn’t quite ready to let it all go.

“I’m going to go (crazy) when y’all leave,” he said.

The sweet-swinging Helton, the beloved heart and soul of the Rockies for 17 seasons and one of the most accomplished players of his era, received 79.7% of the vote, clearing the 75% bar required by the Hall of Fame and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Matzek, ‘The Yips,’ and me

We’ve all got something. Mine is anxiety and depression, something I’ve dealt with for much of my adult life.

That’s why I was so interested in Tyler Matzek’s story. The former Rockies pitcher had such a bad case of the yips, brought on by performance anxiety, that it nearly ruined his baseball career. In December 2015, we met in a Southern California coffee shop and talked for nearly three hours. He was remarkably candid.

In 2021, he won a World Series as a shutdown reliever for the Braves. But before that, I wrote this story:

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. — On Sept. 5, 2014, at Coors Field, Tyler Matzek pitched a three-hit shutout against the San Diego Padres. Poised and confident, and throwing a 94 mph fastball with graceful ease, the Rockies’ rookie left-hander was dominant. Over his final six starts, Matzek went 4-2 with a 1.55 ERA. He looked like the Rockies’ ace of the future.

Yet demons lurked in the corners of Matzek’s mind, and by the time he took the mound for the Rockies’ 2015 home opener April 10, he was headed for trouble.

“Even when things were going the right way, there was this overwhelming stress inside me that just kept building and building and building,” Matzek said recently while sipping coffee at a Starbucks in Southern California. “(Then) I just couldn’t hold that stress any longer and my game collapsed.”

Matzek was suffering from performance anxiety.

It wrecked him on the mound and even began to creep into his everyday life.

“My wife, Lauren, said it was our worst time, relationship-wise, because I was so tight, so stressed, just waiting to explode from this thing,” Matzek said. “She knew it wasn’t about her, but it was hard.”

But the quiet, intelligent 25-year-old confronted his condition head-on, confident he would fulfill the promise that prompted the Rockies to make him the 11th pick in the first round of the 2009 draft. He is determined to compete for a job in the Rockies’ starting rotation in spring training.

Thanks, mom

The day after I cover my final Rockies game, Nancy and I are flying to Southern California. We’ll join my extended family to scatter the ashes of my mom, Anita, and my dad, Dusty, in Laguna Beach, their favorite vacation spot.

This is my final chance to say thanks, sharing past stories with you:

Somewhere up there, my mom is smiling.

Ryan McMahon hit a home run for the Rockies in their 4-3 win over the Giants on Thursday night. McMahon broke out of a horrendous slump.

“RyMac” was my mom’s second-favorite Rockie, right behind Todd Helton. Why? Partly because he’s Irish, mostly because I like RyMac.

She was thrilled when Helton invited me to his Knoxville, Tenn., home to witness his Hall of Fame phone call in January 2024. When my wife, Nancy, and I were invited to Helton’s party in Cooperstown last July, my mom felt like she was there.

During her last years, I watched Rockies road games with her when I could. She rarely asked why the team was winning or losing. Strategy was not her thing. She always asked, “Is so and so a good guy?”

That����ap the kind of sports fan my mom was. She knew nothing about OPS, yards after catch, 3-point percentages, or point spreads. She just liked how players played and hoped they were good people. She loved Dr. J, Nolan Arenado and Floyd Little.

In the Broncos’ infancy, when Little was their only star and the game plan was “Little off left tackle, Little off right tackle,” my mom would shout, “Don’t hurt Floyd!”

In her later years, she’d tried to stay up late enough to watch manager Bud Black’s postgame news conference, not because she wanted to hear his explanations but to hear me ask a question.

Thanks, dad

I wrote this journal a few months before my dad died in May 2022:

What do you get your dad for his 90th birthday?

I’ve been pondering that question for the past few weeks. I kept striking out.

Then, as I perused the web, I came across a cool T-shirt. Cardinals red, the shirt displays the image of Stan Musial, leaning on a baseball bat. The script simply reads: The MAN.

How many sports-related T-shirts, sweatshirts and books have I given my dad over the years? I’ve lost track. It doesn’t matter. My dad’s going to love his “Stan the Man” T-shirt.

A father and son bonding over sports is not unique, but it is different for every father and son.

Walter Patrick “Dusty” Saunders was born on Sept. 24, 1931, in Denver. He was a lonely kid. His father died when he was 9 years old, and his mom died when he was 10.

In the 1940s, my dad’s companions were the radio, books and sports. He became a St. Louis Cardinals fan because he could pick up the strong signal from KMOX radio in St. Louis. Musial was his favorite player.

In 2006, my first full year on the Rockies beat, I took my dad to St. Louis for Father’s Day to watch the Rockies play the Cardinals in the first year of the new Busch Stadium. He chatted with Clint Hurdle and Todd Helton. After the game, my dad, MLB.com Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding and I had dinner at former Cardinal Mike Shannon’s restaurant. Thomas and I still talk about that day.

He’s been putting pictures and other office items in boxes over recent days, preparing for the Broncos’ move across their practice fields to a gleaming new team headquarters, and wondering how long it will take to get used to the new digs.

That, though, is the only professional move Payton has to ponder any time soon after he and the Broncos agreed to a new five-year deal on Thursday.

“Sean Payton has led an impressive turnaround over the past three seasons, instilling a winning culture with high expectations,” Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner said in a statement announcing the deal. “I appreciate the close partnership he shares with George Paton along with the alignment and stability across our football operations.

“We’re thrilled for Sean to continue leading our team as head coach, building on our progress during such an exciting time for the Broncos.”

The contract runs through 2030, aligning the contract terms for Payton and general manager George Paton, who signed a new extension earlier this spring. Payton was believed to be one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NFL on his initial contract in Denver at around $20 million per year and almost certainly will continue to be, though his exact salary on the new deal was not immediately known.

“I’m super appreciative of that opportunity,” Payton said Thursday after Denver’s OTA practice. “I said this earlier, that triangle of ownership — the Walton-Penner group, Carrie and Greg — and then George and working with him, I’ve been spoiled. I had a real good experience in New Orleans with ownership and (general manager) Mickey (Loomis). And to go two-for-two in this league is hard.

“I’m thankful they want me back and we’re going to do everything we can to keep winning.

The Broncos have done little else since Payton took over following a disastrous 2022 season that finished 5-12 and saw Nathaniel Hackett fired 15 games into his tenure.

Beyond just one calamitous year, Payton took over a team that had lost its way for nearly a decade since Peyton Manning retired after Super Bowl 50.

Denver went 8-9 in his first season but made the decision to take on a record $85 million in dead cap to cut quarterback Russell Wilson afterward.

Then Payton and Paton drafted Bo Nix at No. 12 overall in the 2024 draft and Payton engineered a 10-7 season that resulted in a wild-card playoff berth in Nix’s rookie year.

Last fall, the Broncos broke through with a 14-3 regular-season record, powered by an 11-game winning streak. They won in the postseason for the first time since their last Super Bowl year, beating Buffalo in overtime in the AFC Divisional round. Then Denver lost at home to New England in the AFC Championship Game without Nix, who fractured his ankle against Buffalo.

Now the Broncos are firmly back on the map. They believe they have a championship-caliber team, they have an ascending power in their ownership group, they have a new stadium in the works and they have Payton and Paton in place long-term atop the football operation.

“There’s always pressure and that����ap kind of the unique thing of sport,” Payton said, “especially at the professional level where you’re graded on each game and each performance and that����ap OK,. That����ap kind of how you prefer it. A place here with such traditions and expectations, that����ap a good thing.

“It����ap a lot better than hoping you can fill a stadium with fans or any of that other stuff.”

Payton is 32-19 in the regular season in Denver and 1-2 in the postseason. His 184 overall regular-season wins are No. 13 all time and second among active coaches behind only Kansas City’s Andy Reid (279). If the Broncos return to the postseason this fall, Payton will find himself in the top 10 in regular-season coaching wins.

Along the way, the Broncos have built one of the deepest and most talented rosters in football thanks in large part to Payton’s conviction on the types of players he wants and Paton’s ability to identify and acquire them. Payton called “aligning with George” on his contract term a critical component to the equation.

“We enjoy the process and coming to work together and going through this together,” Payton said. “I think we think a lot alike.”

Payton had two years remaining on his original deal, which ran through the 2027 season. The new pact, then, runs through 2030 and would take the veteran head coach through his 67th birthday.

Payton said he hasn’t given much thought to how much longer he wants to coach, but recounted a story from last season when Nix asked him that very question.

“Bo had asked me how long and I was like, shoot, plenty of time. Eight years, nine years, whatever,” Payton said. “And then we had one of those gameday moments (in Las Vegas) and I said, ‘well right now it feels like one year.’

“I’ve not really given any thought to the end game. I think I’ve got a lot of juice left and I enjoy what we’re doing.”

Only 11 quarterbacks have thrown for more touchdowns. Only 13 QBs have averaged a better yards per pass attempt in their careers. Only 14 other players have completed more passes. Only 15 other signal-callers have thrown for more yards.

He tossed 353 TDs over his career. His touchdown-to-pick ratio was 3.1-to-1. He averaged 29 passing scores, nine interceptions, and 10 wins per season. He’s the only QB in NFL annals to amass both 40,000 passing yards and 5,000 rushing yards in the same career. He was 121-80-1 as a starter. He won a Super Bowl and was a horrible goal-line call away from winning a second.

If you take the name off the back of the jersey, and just look at the stats, that’s a Hall-of-Fame career, isn’t it? Those are the kind of career numbers you’d hope Bo Nix would aspire to. 

Alas, that resume comes with a name. And a reputation. And a pile of pure cheeseball high enough to climb Mount Elbert.

The subject of Russell Wilson — his career, his legacy — is, no shock, a bit of a mixed bag within the Grading The Week offices. But when we were forced to reckon with No. 3 one more time after he announced a few days ago his was transitioning from the NFL to an analyst job at CBS Sports, the football wonks decided on the following:

Despite a miserable two seasons in Denver that were the beginning of the end of a good career, it was, on the whole, a very good career. A Hall-of-Fame career. The GTW crew is cool with Russ getting his ticket punched to Canton one day. Just don’t force us to have to listen to his induction speech. Please.

Russell Wilson in Canton — B

When the Broncos sold the farm to acquire Wilson from Seattle in 2022, the idea was that, at age 33, Big Russ had enough juice left from a pretty glorious Seahawks decade to author the kind of dreamy coda Peyton Manning authored at Dove Valley a decade earlier.

Instead, what unfolded was a chain of nightmares. Wilson was a step or two slower than the guy who won rings with the Legion of Boom, and that step or two proved immense for a guy who loved to hang onto the ball too long. With Wilson’s quick-twitch fading, the sack count piled up. He never saw a throw in the middle of the field he liked, largely because he never looked in the middle of the field to begin with. Pairing that with a first-time, pleasant, but in-over-his-head head coach in Nathaniel Hackett turned into dark comedy, with fans at Empower Field having to count the play clock down, out loud, back at Russ to get him to get the ball snapped in time.

The pre-snap operations were far cleaner with Sean Payton in charge, but Wilson’s decision-making and sack-taking drove his notoriously fickle coach up a wall. Payton and Wilson were too set in their ways to co-exist. The Broncos chose to eat $85 million in dead-cap penalties just to flush Wilson out of their system — but cold turkey, in hindsight, proved to be the perfect dish. Without Russ crashing so quickly, so spectacularly, the Broncos wouldn’t have had to turn to Nix, nor revamp the locker room with so many young players all at once.

Denver launched Wilson’s NFL death spiral, but don’t let that entirely discount the 10 seasons that preceded it — Seattle Russ was 104-53-1 as a starter in the Northwest, made it to nine Pro Bowls, and led the Seahawks on eight playoff runs. Only eight other QBs have ever led more game-winning drives over a career than Wilson’s 40, which is the same career comeback number as John Elway’s. The more you forget about what Russ did in orange and blue, the better. For everybody.

Russell Wilson on TV — D

That said, the GTW kids would be pleasantly surprised if the notoriously pleasant, bland, inoffensive Russ is anything but terrible television.

Oh, he’ll look good. Dang good. He’ll be cool as heck. But one of the central tenets of an analyst position is sharing an actual, from-the-heart opinion, the occasional hot take. For DangeRuss, that might be too hot to handle.

With deep regret, we note that the season for negative televised political campaigns is back in action.

We, viewers and voters, are subjected to very ugly photographs and rhetoric. The ads from the Democratic Party’s two major candidates for Colorado governor, for example, are so brutal that they might lead us to two kinds of conclusions. One is that the stinging rhetoric will leave lasting images in our minds, even following the inauguration. We will ask ourselves if the winning candidate can be trusted. The other question is about the creators of this kind of material. Are they trustworthy? Are the candidates themselves responsible? “Why,” we might ask, “would any candidate allow this kind of destructive brutality to be aired on their behalf?”

What might an average citizen do to eliminate this toxicity and to insist on a higher, respectful level of political discussion? Perhaps each of us could call the campaign offices and register an official protest. As we communicate our deep displeasure, we can model respectful behavior in our phone calls.

Peter Hulac, Denver

Don’t cry for Colorado sports fans

Re: “Nix’s ankle. MacKinnon’s knee. Are Denver sports cursed?” May 26 sports commentary

Hey, Sean Keeler,

Kiss every bruise, interspersing my whooped behind. As a tortured Minnesota professional sports fan, I must say, questioning whether Colorado teams are cursed is equivalent to an Aspen billionaire spitting out a slightly stale serving of Caspian caviar over the hood of his trust-fund Porsche.

After reading your recent diatribe likening Bo Nix’s ankle, Cale Makar’s shoulder and Nathan MacKinnon’s knee to a Billy Goat-esque jinx, my fingers almost fell off from playing the world’s smallest violin for hours on end.

You speak as though the Centennial State hasn’t been fed professional championships via silver spoon for decades. John Elway and Terrell Davis did it twice. Peyton Manning added another. Nikola Jokić and Murray secured an NBA ring in 2023. The Colorado Avalanche have three Stanley Cups.

Try growing up 15 minutes away from the Minneapolis Metrodome. No matter how hard I scrub, the putrid stink of institutionalized loss follows me to every barstool. Norm Green kidnaps our former hockey team to Texas, a place where ice is exclusively used to chill Lone Stars. Gary Anderson misses a Super-Bowl-berth field goal. Kevin Garnett loses to Kobe Bryant, leaves Minnesota, wins a ring with Boston. Big Papi loses to David Eckstein, leaves Minnesota, wins a ring with Boston. Brett Favre, Anthony Edwards, Kirill Kaprizov, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Professional Colorado teams are nowhere near cursed. Nix will heal. MacKinnon will heal. My derrière, however, will not.

Just ask Buffalo. They know what I’m talking about.

Ray K. Erku

Colorado sportsnation turns its lonely eyes to you, Rockies

2026 is proving to be the worst of times in Mile High sportsland! The Broncos faltered in the snow, the Nuggets floundered on the hardwood, and now the Avalanche fail on ice. It leaves all our hopes and prayers residing on the bottom-feeding Rockies.

Looking grim, folks, and the year’s not half over.

Harry Puncec, Lakewood

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Sean Keeler: Like Fox Mulder, But as precedent goes, the best we’ve got to work with is new offensive play-caller Davis Webb’s dry run pushing the buttons during last August’s 27-7 preseason win over Arizona. The Broncos had 39 pass attempts between Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger, who completed 30. But here’s the catch: Of the 36 recorded targets that night, only six went to tight ends — Evan Engram, who logged one for 58 yards and a score; three to Caden Prieskorn for 52 yards in receptions; one for Caleb Lohner, who turned it into a 4-yard catch; and one to Lucas Krull for 3 yards. Small sample size, granted. But color me more skeptical than hopeful.

Troy Renck: Jaylen Waddle comes in and out of breaks better than any receiver on the roster. He starts and stops like a Porsche. He can run deep, and slice like a knife on slants. Why bring this up? His versatility should create room in the middle of the field for tight ends. Based on his roots in uptempo offenses, new offensive coordinator Davis Webb should be more open to using Engram, a player he recruited to Denver. Will Payton let him? Will Engram even be on the team if one of the prospects breaks through in training camp? Last season, the Broncos’ five tight ends caught 78 catches for 719 yards, the latter ranking 26th in the NFL. They combined for three touchdowns, good for 24th. No player had more than one. Bentley and Lohner are intriguing prospects. Bentley can block so he should see the field as a rookie, making him available for sneaky targets. And why not make Lohner a red-zone target with his vertical leap honed from his basketball background? Let’s be real. Waddle cannot make the Broncos more explosive on his own.

Keeler: I was banging the Lohner drum a year ago to try him as an end-zone specialist — you won’t find many linebackers with a 6-foot-7 frame, an 80-inch wingspan, a 4.69 40-yard-dash time and you’ll find even fewer safeties who could match up. If you could combine Bentley’s physicality with Lohner’s (literal) upside, you’d have the perfect Joker. Alas, Payton and Webb are likely going to have to draw the line at one of the two former Utes, once push comes to shove at the end of camp.

Renck: Where Bo Nix must improve over the middle and against zone coverage and tight ends can help. The idea the Broncos cannot incorporate dig, hook and leak routes is preposterous. The running back screen has not worked. Maybe it will improve with R.J. Harvey and Jonah Coleman. Regardless, the tight end must become more of a weapon for the Broncos to produce a top-10 offense and reach the Super Bowl as a top two team.

Keeler: You know what the last two Broncos Super Bowl teams had in common besides Peyton Manning at the controls? The 2013 and 2015 Denver offenses featured at least two tight ends in each of those campaigns who’d snatched at least 25 targets during the regular season. Fast forward a decade, and under Payton, the resurgent Broncos have had one tight end with 25 or more targets (Trautman) in ’23; none in ’24 (Krull led the TE room in targets, though, with 23); and one in ’25 (Engram, with 76). Seam routes matter. Keeping linebackers honest matters. Is Nix averse to throwing the rock across the middle of the field because he doesn’t trust his options, or because his options are so rarely open? It’s your classic chicken-or-the-egg dilemma, and I can’t wait to see Davis take a crack at it.

Peyton Manning is more organized than Kim Kardashian’s closet. His life operates on routines, consistency. Complete the task. Move on.

So after several weeks of rehabbing a plantar fasciitis foot injury that season, throwing to Jordan “Sunshine” Taylor in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse, Manning was ready to return.

Feeling like he was being spied on, Manning delivered a message to coach Gary Kubiak.

“When you are hurt, you feel left out. Like the kid that doesn’t get to go on the playground. I felt like I was throwing the ball well,” Manning said. “I wanted to see if someone was really watching.”

Turns out, Kubiak was indeed checking on the former MVP. What he saw surprised him. And more than a decade later, it still does.

“The first video I saw, it only had one barrel (flipping him off),” Kubiak said with a laugh. “I knew he was mad. Really he was saying, ‘Hey, dumb (bleep), are you going to put me in?’^”

Wednesday night provided a reminder of how it turned out when Manning returned to the lineup. Joined by five teammates and Kubiak, the 2015 Broncos celebrated the Night of Champions at the Paramount Theatre.

The bulk of the team came together last fall for a 10-year reunion and the induction of the late Demaryius Thomas into the Ring of Fame.

But this was different, more personal, more laughs, showing why Manning decided to hold live events honoring the 2006 Colts, 1989 San Francisco 49ers and Pat Summitt����ap legacy at the University of Tennessee.

“It was special (in October), but we didn’t have the MVP of the team there, Von Miller, because he is still out there playing. So we felt like it was missing something,” Manning said. “This was a chance for the fans to go behind the ropes. When you have a team honored in a stadium it is not the most intimate. This event was all about the fans.”

Based on the reaction of the orange bleached crowd, it is clear Manning read the room like he did defenses for 18 seasons. Manning received a standing ovation. And the roar that greeted Von Miller pierced ears down the 16th Street Mall.

There is a common refrain about seasons that end in rings. The players, it is said, walk together forever as champions.

But the fans become part of the connective tissue as well.

“Why come here? Why wouldn’t I? This was such a special team. This gives us a chance to hear the stories and relive it,” said Leroy Garcia from Colorado Springs, before posing with a replica of the Super Bowl 50 trophy. “There was no way I was going to miss this.”

Manning brought together a cross-section of players whose stories highlighted the special talent and personalities on the Super Bowl 50 team. DeMarcus Ware and Manning are football immortals, enshrined in the Hall of Fame. If Miller ever retires, he will join them.

Star power was required, but unselfishness defined the locker room. Kubiak spoke of the importance of everybody contributing, of playing for the person next to you in the locker room.

The Broncos knew during minicamp that something different was percolating. The offensive had weapons and the defense boasted two fang-bearing edge rushers and a No Fly Zone secondary that humbled All-Pros, MVPs and journeymen without remorse.

“I remember when I joined the team, I thought I was going to be The Man. Then we went through a walk-through and I was like, ‘(Bleep) I am not going to be The Man,’^” Talib said. “We didn’t have one hole. Not one.”

The Broncos opened the season with seven straight wins. The confidence was tangible. Denver believed they could beat anyone because of a defense that closed better than the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera.

“Legendary. The D-line, they had their own special relationship. Our linebackers (Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall) were two of the best in the league, straight ballers. And obviously we knew as a secondary we were always going to do what we needed to,” Pro Bowl safety T.J. Ward said. “When you perform the way we did, that’s how you become legendary.”

The way sports operate, however, titles are required to bring people together years later. Greatness is measured in championships.

Miller and Ware wrote a diary of havoc in the postseason. And the offense did just enough, squeaking past the Steelers and Patriots. The New England game remains the loudest the new stadium has ever been. The victory required noise and faith.

“I played for (defensive coordinator) Wade Phillips for like 10 years. And he dedicated one game every season to his dad (Bum Phillips). We won all of them,” said Ware. “I am tearing up thinking about it. We couldn’t let him down.”

As the confetti fell, the gravity of what was ahead took shape. Owner Pat Bowlen wanted a third Super Bowl crown. The players wanted one for Ware, who was ringless, and Manning, who was expected to retire. And, they did not know it then, they needed it as a touchstone memory to honor Thomas.

“If there was a Hall of Fame for teammates, he would be in it,” Miller said. “When I had my first child, he was the first person I called and Face-timed. He was one of one.”

The Broncos thrashed the Carolina Panthers, turning regular season MVP Cam Newton into a Fig Newton. That game is remembered in photos of the defense pouncing, taunting, finger-wagging. All of the swag came together in one night.

It took a coach with patience, who was honest and stern. It required role players willing to sacrifice. And it demanded stars meet the moment, no matter how bright the glare and long the odds.

As the calendar has flipped, as the years have passed, the narrative of those Broncos has changed, filling in the gaps. They were characters. But they won because of character.

“Everybody that wins a Super Bowl, they all say it was a unique team. But I am telling you that the word team could not be more personified than with that Super Bowl 50 group,” Manning said. “Everybody had a job. Everybody was completely unselfish. We never argued. It was really special.”

He arrived at the Paramount Theater downtown Wednesday evening, after all, to celebrate the Broncos’ championship 2015 team and hosted a meet and greet flanked by the Lombardi Trophy.

There will be no such celebrations for the 2025 Broncos, naturally, because they came up four points short of playing in the Super Bowl back in January.

Manning, though, says Sean Payton’s team should be a contender again this fall.

“I think this team has it figured out,” Manning said before hosting his Night of Champions event celebrating the Super Bowl 50 champs. “Sean knows what they need to do. I think they’ve also got to have a bunch of unselfish guys who all can look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘what can I do to get better this offseason and help the team?’ I think it����ap pretty unique from that standpoint. It����ap not by accident.

“Sean and (general manager George Paton) have drafted and signed guys that are unselfish. That are team-oriented. And that����ap the way you’ve got to have it in order to win.”

Ten years after Manning and the Broncos defeated New England in the AFC Championship Game, the Broncos fell, 10-7, at home. They did so, of course, without Bo Nix, who fractured his ankle in overtime of the team’s 33-30 Divisional round win over Buffalo.

Manning spent time with Nix recently at Augusta National and had a prediction about Nix’s third pro season.

“I saw him down at The Masters last week and he looked good, sounds good — was upbeat and looking forward to getting started,” Manning said. “I think (the injury) is something only he can speak to because to play so well in that game, to beat the Buffalo Bills and then find out you’re not going to play the next week, I can’t speak for him but I know he was disappointed. He’s a competitive guy and he’s a team guy. He wants to be out there. His teammates are out there for him and he wants to answer the bell for them. I’m sure that was the hardest part.

“That’ll push him even harder and make him even hungrier this year.”

Manning may not have experienced exactly what Nix did, but over his Hall of Fame career he tasted both the highs of winning titles and also the sting of coming up just short. In addition to the pair of rings, Manning lost in the Super Bowl two other times — 2009 with Indianapolis and 2013 in Denver.

“I’ve always said, which would you rather do? Have your heart ripped out by the Patriots in the AFC Championship or win your last game of the regular season and finish 7-10 and be so far removed, but it doesn’t hurt quite as much,” Manning said. “It doesn’t sting as much. I’d rather have my heart ripped out because that means you’re knocking on the door. I’m sure Bo would tell you that and Courtland (Sutton) and all the guys that were disappointed that they got so close. It makes you hungrier for the next year, it means you’re doing something right.

“I know Sean and that bunch will rebound and pick up where they left off and I think be even better.”

Denver’s next chance to improve its roster is this weekend in the draft. The Broncos aren’t on the clock until Friday because they traded their first-rounder as part of a package for Jaylen Waddle, but Manning is interested all the same.

“Certainly curious about who the Broncos are going to draft,” he said. “I know we don’t have a (first-rounder) because of Jaylen Waddle. What a great pick-up that was.”

The project will use a vacant site along the South Platte Park Open Space in the RiverPark development at Santa Fe Drive and Mineral Avenue.

At the heart of the five-acre development will be a 15,000-square-foot restaurant offering Southern-inspired, Colorado-focused cuisine, complemented by five private dining rooms designed to accommodate a range of group sizes and community gatherings.

Plans for the project were discussed during a , where the economic development staff said they received an application from the seeking a partnership agreement with the city for the project.

The meeting agenda said Manning’s involvement is intended for promotional activities as well as the general use of his name, image and likeness.

“Mr. Manning’s financial involvement, along with other equity partners, has been intentionally limited by Gastamo Group to ensure they retain long-term ownership and management of the project, and to more adequately reflect the nature of Mr. Manning’s partnership and role with the project; not as a majority owner, but rather, as a promoter,” the agenda said.

In addition to the restaurant, the project includes a 13,000-square-foot “Field House” venue designed as a year-round facility capable of hosting weddings, corporate functions, concerts, fundraisers and community events.

The venue will feature a glass-enclosed event barn, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, and a capacity of up to approximately 450 guests.

The site plan for 1st Street Farms includes a range of outdoor amenities such as a multi-use turf field designed for youth sports and community programming, landscaped gardens and walking paths, and open green space for informal recreation and seasonal events.

Gastamo Group will also provide a variety of community perks through a community benefits agreement, including art installations, first responder and teacher appreciation benefits and naming rights, among other offerings.

The project will cost $28 million, which includes site improvements for the public spaces, as well as the restaurant and event venue building, the agenda said. The costs also include acquisition costs for the two contiguous parcels that make up the five acres.

However, the site poses infrastructure challenges and high acquisition costs, creating a funding gap of $5.5 million.

Because of significant public-facing improvements, proposed community benefits, and an annual $35.2 million economic impact of the project, city staff requested the council’s consideration of a public-private partnership agreement to support the development.

In the event that a partnership agreement with the city is not reached, the Gastamo Group will not proceed with the development of the project.

Original plans for the site by RiverPark developer Evergreen Devco Inc. called for 270 residential townhome units. In the event the 1st Street Farms development does not proceed, the use would likely revert to the original plans, the document stated. Gastamo Group is led by founder Jean-Phillipe Failyau and CEO Peter Newlin. The company has a portfolio of successful restaurants.

Examples of the businesses included in Gastamo Group’s portfolio include Park Burger, Homegrown Tap & Dough, Perdida – Mexican Kitchen, Park & Co. and Lady Nomada.

Representatives from Gastamo Group did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

This is a developing story and may be updated.