Finally, some great news! Our NBA-title-defending Nuggets tip off the basketball season tonight at the abnormal time of 5:30 p.m. Get there 45 minutes before tip-off for NBA hoopla, including raising of the championship banner, plus the highly anticipated ring ceremony.
No need to sweat traffic at Speer and Auraria Parkway if you don’t have a ticket. This greatest show in Colorado will be broadcast worldwide, on national cable TNT, and even by Comcast in Denver.
No basketball team anywhere is better, or more entertaining, than our NBA Champion Denver Nuggets. In total, the Nuggets will have nine games this regular season on TNT, nine on ESPN and four on ABC.
We need our Nuggets and the NBA, now more than ever. Downtown Denver’s too-often depressing. Really hard news from our dysfunctional Washington, D.C., and around the globe, saddens and frightens.
The Broncos are disappointing and dull, even when they squeak out a win. Six decades of Silverman NFL season tickets ended several years back. On TV, I can record and watch the tedious, injury-plagued, games super-fast.
So sad was this past Rockies’ season that I went zero for 81 in attendance. Since their blessed birth, I’ve attended on average 10-15 games a year, but not anymore. Not since my law office left downtown. If a Colorado team won’t try hard, neither will I.
The Denver Nuggets don’t aspire for mediocrity! They fully aim to repeat their NBA championship. Vital to their title defense is Jamal Murray. The Nuggets might have won prior championships if the premier shooting guard hadn’t demolished his left knee at Oracle Arena on April 12, 2021.
But that’s when the Jamal Murray story gets great. Through strong parenting, hard work and amazing athleticism, the Blue Arrow’s back, better than ever.
Quick and fierce like a Wildcat, the Nuggets’ charismatic Canadian is a fan favorite. It’s not taunting in the NBA to fire off imaginary arrows following massive Murray flurries. Great shooters carry a certain swagger. When Jamal smiles, Nuggets’ Nation lights up.
The Blue Arrow has fresh new athletic shoes, his Jamal Murray New Balance Two WXY v4, and he takes pride in the design. Mal doesn’t even own a car, but he sure can drive spectacularly to the rim. Number 27 gets around Denver just fine.
Expect Murray to be an all-star this year and, as a result, earn a Super-Max contract like his big pal, the Nuggets’ all-time best player, Nikola Jokić. Whatever Murray is paid will be well deserved for a clutch 16-game player who craves the playoffs to show his best!
Native Serbian Jokić and his family are well settled in Denver now. Featured in every aspect of the Nuggets’ celebration, darling daughter Ognjena Jokić, must be telling her father she wants another ring. So do all Nuggets fans. We are greedy. No way any team stays in the gym with our starting five once they get going.
Our Mile High Nuggets are favored by 4.5 points in tonight’s highly anticipated opener against King James and his court-mates. That seems low after the Nuggets humiliated Lakers Nation last year, winning in a spectacularly satisfying four-game sweep.
It’s ridiculous our Mile High guys should be sportsbooks’ third favorite to win the 2023-24 crown. Behind Boston and Milwaukee? This is a +550 opportunity. For you non-gamblers, this means you can win $550 on a $100 bet the Nuggets will win the NBA championship. Back to back baby!
The Nuggets’ starting five returns, with our same fiercely competitive head coach. Michael Malone raised his family, and this fabulous team, in Denver.
Malone’s father, legendary NBA Coach Brendan Malone, died Oct. 10, at age 81. I expect Michael Malone’s wise and loving father knew the truth of my next sentence. If healthy, the Nuggets are going to repeat as NBA champions.
The Bucks and Celtics look good with recent big-time trades for Damian Lillard and Jru Holiday respectively, but our starting five can beat theirs. Same goes for the Lakers, Suns, Warriors and others in the running for second best team.
Teamwork made the Nuggets’ dream work, and we’ve got the winning band back together, featuring the best basketball player in the world.
Our Joker is in his prime and he’s complemented perfectly by his teammates. Even though the Nuggets lost sixth man Bruce Brown, who was superb in the playoffs, and at the parade, the second team is vastly improved.
Huge advances are expected from young studs like Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and recently well-rewarded rebounding machine, Zeke Nnaji.
Colorado’s own Reggie Jackson will be a strong veteran presence, as will Justin Holiday and Deandre Jordan, which is excellent for the three promising (and experienced) NBA rookies on the roster. Keep your eyes on swaggering rookie shooter, Julian Strawther. This tall shooting guard doesn’t look like a rookie, after playing huge games at Gonzaga.
May tonight’s game please begin another dominant championship run. Denver’s Nuggets are the best team in basketball, and one heck of a great diversion. Last season was so much fun. Let’s do it again.
Craig Silverman is a former Denver chief deputy DA. Craig is columnist at large for The Colorado Sun and an active Colorado trial lawyer with Craig Silverman Law, LLC. He also hosts The Craig Silverman Show podcast.
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