Nuggets Fans Crushed by 14th Pick
There are 29 teams every year that do not get the number one pick. Each could make a case for injustice.
There are 12 teams that have not picked first since the 1985 inception of the current draft lottery system. Each of those 12 could make a case that they’ve been slighted by the NBA or that there’s some sort of cloud over their franchise. I believe Nuggets fans have adopted NuggLife as a moniker for their disappointment.
The idea that there is some ghost in the machine that is anti-Nuggets is absurd.
Denver fans want success from the Nuggets but they don’t support the Nuggets, emotionally or financially.
Denver had the worst attendance in the NBA for the 2016-17 season. It took a 46-win performance in 2017-18 to elevate them to middle-of-the-pack for attendance.
As for support? Look no further than the Donovan Mitchell debate or the almost desperate desire to move up their draft position. The Nuggets are never good enough for Denver fans.
Let’s reiterate: Donovan Mitchell was NEVER going to be a Denver Nugget. The Denver Nuggets are not going to displace Gary Harris or Jamal Murray. They wouldn’t even consider moving either of those assets for Kyrie Irving. Rudy Gobert is the reincarnation of Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen. He can block shots and he can dunk (as long as he gets the ball near the basket). He may well win defensive player of the year, a travesty to players like Clint Capela who can block shots and play on-ball defense. So, those two moves by the Nuggets front office are not nearly the head-scratchers that they are being portrayed.
Denver fans are caught in their own loop, pining away for other team’s stars and conspicuously not spending money on the Nuggets. It’s got to be hard for Stan Kroenke to open up the checkbook given the tepid habits of Nuggets fans. I’ve said it before, if this team got the fan support of a San Antonio, OKC or Golden State, the free-agent possibilities for Denver may look different.
Colorado is beautiful and safe and has a lot to offer. There’s no reason for free-agents to spurn Denver. Maybe the franchise has performed so poorly in free-agency because of the judgemental, entitled fan base.
The combination of Jokic, Murray and Harris have the highest ceiling of any trio that’s ever played in the Mile High City. Rather than embrace that, Nuggets fans seem to reject this squad. The previous best iteration of the Nuggets, the Carmelo, Chauncey squad made it all the way to the 2008-09 Western Conference Finals. Carmelo was 26 years old, Chauncey was 33. It took six years for the Nuggets to build to that point with Anthony. Jamal Murray is 21, Harris is 22 and Jokic is 23.