Nuggets celebrate NBA title with parade through downtown Denver

DENVER (AP) —Nikola Jokic rode atop a firetruck with people whomeanthe world tohim— his teammate Jamal Murray, his family — and the NBAtrophy.

Jokic and theDenver Nuggets soaked in the moment and were soaked, too, bychampagne spray on Thursday during a parade through downtown Denverto celebrate their first NBA title.

His youngdaughter, Ognjena, stole the show as she sat in front of him on thefiretruck, at times wearing Jokic’s championship hat. Jokic turnedin some big assists, too, shielding her from champagne showers.

Thiscelebration has been a long time in the making and swarms of fansshowed up. It took 47 seasonsinthe NBAfor the franchiseto finallymakeDenver the home of the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

And to think,Jokic was more concerned about when he could return home to Sombor,Serbia, than attending the parade. The player known as “Joker”changed his tune following the festivities.

“This isamazing,” Jokic said. “We’re all going to remember this our wholelives.”

Near the endof the parade route, an officer was struck by a firetruck andsuffered a serious leg injury,Denver Chief of PoliceRon Thomas saidat a news conference. The officer was inserious and stable condition. Later in the day and after theparade, a shooting took place in the downtown area that injured twopeople. Thomas said the police didn’t believe the incident wasassociated with the celebration. It followsamass shooting in downtownDenver after the Nuggetsclinched the title Monday night. The shooting was likely sparked bya drug deal gone wrong, according to police.

The Nuggetscapped off an impressive postseason by beating the Miami Heat inthe Finals in Game 5. The Nuggets finished 16-4 in the playoffs,which was tied for the second-best mark by an NBA champion sincethe first round was expanded to best-of-seven in 2003. San Antonioalso was 16-4 in 2007, and Golden State went 16-1 in 2017.

“It’s hittingme right now,” said coach Michael Malone, who was choking up as hewas interviewed shortly after climbing off his firetruck for theparade. “This is an amazing experience.

“I’ve got acrazy idea,” added Malone, who was wearing a shirt that read “Putthis in your pipe and smoke it” with a picture of the NBA trophyunder it. “Let’s do this again. I want to be on another float. Iwant to be at another parade and do this thing again.”

This titleand this parade is a tip of the cap to the team’s ABA roots. It’salso a tribute to all the players who ever wore the Nuggets’ iconicrainbow uniforms or any other version of the jersey.

There were somany scenes to absorb. There was rookie Christian Braun tossing hisshirt into the crowd. Veteran DeAndre Jordan mingling with thefans, giving them high-fives. Murray signing a painting of himself.And Kentavious Caldwell-Pope playing the role of TV broadcasterwhen he interviewed teammate Aaron Gordon.

“KCP,reporting live,” he said, turning to Gordon on the Denver 7broadcast. “How does it feel to be a champion?”

“You wouldknow, champ,” Gordon responded to Caldwell-Pope.

Caldwell-Popewas the lone Nuggets player to have earned a championship, courtesyof his title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

That is,until now.

“We reallydid this,” said Murray, who returned to elite form this seasonafter missing all of 2021-22 as he recovered from a torn ACL. “Wechamps for life — champions for life.”

Twenty milesaway from the party downtown, the Broncos wrapped up theiroffseason program Thursday in relative isolation. Veteran safetyKareem Jackson said the Nuggets’ championship inspires them.

“Yeah,definitely seeing another team in the same city win it all, andthose guys had a great year. It’s definitely encouraging for us. Wedefinitely want to do the same thing,” Jackson said.

Jokic iscoming off an historic playoff performance, where he became thefirst player to lead the league in total points (600), rebounds(269) and assists (190) in a single postseason. The two-time NBAMVP added more hardware to his resume, too, capturing the FinalsMVP.

He had thattrophy next to him, too. Jokic momentarilymisplaced it Monday nightin the chaos of winninga title.

Jokic wascalled up to the microphone to speak and serenaded with thunderouschants of “MVP,” “MVP” from the crowd.

“Ok, ok, ok,ok,” he said to quiet them down. “Thank you. Thank you,though.”

With theseason now officially closed, Jokic will soon head home to spendtime with his family and return to his other passion — horseracing. He’s hoping to make it back in time to attend a harnessrace on Sunday.

This is thesecond straight June the city has held a parade. The ColoradoAvalanche were the guests of honor last year after hoisting theStanley Cup.