Former Hawkeye Ryan Bowen An NBA Champ

Fort Madison Native Wins Ring Coaching Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) talks with assistant coach Ryan Bowen before Game 5 of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Phoenix Suns on May 9, 2023 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. (Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)

Ryan Bowen spent Tuesday trying to get through all of the text messages.

It was a losing battle, but the former Iowa player was glad to be doing it.

“I read them, and then all of the sudden there’s 50 more,” said Bowen, in his eighth season as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets, who won the NBA title on Monday night with a 94-89 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Finals.

It’s a moment that Bowen hasn’t quite grasped.

“Going through the text messages today, it’s like, ‘Holy cow, we won,’” Bowen said. “Watching TV today, watching (ESPN’s) SportsCenter, it’s like, ‘That’s us. We did it.’ It’s pretty crazy.

“I’ve watched the trophy celebrations, I’ve watched the ring celebrations, and in the back of my head I wondered, ‘Will I ever get a chance to win a championship?’ You just wondered if you were ever going to be in that situation.”

After 12 professional seasons as a player, 10 in the NBA, and then a 13-year coaching career that included a one-season stop at Iowa as part of Fran McCaffery’s staff, Bowen was going to get a championship ring.

“We’re shaking hands with everybody after the game,” Bowen said. “Next thing you know, they’re bringing the stage out and everything. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re about to do this, they’re about to have the trophy presentation.’ It was just cool how quickly everything was done. You’re hugging the guys, and the next thing you know, everything is there, we’re standing on stage, celebrating with the fans. That made it cool — to do it at home.”

What made Monday night special for Bowen was who was there to celebrate. His family — his wife Wendy, his daughter Isabel, and his sons Ben and Zachary — was there. Bowen’s brother, Tyler, also made it to Denver for the game, as did former Iowa teammate Kent McCausland.

“Kent flew in for the game, and he was rocking one of his Denver Ryan Bowen jerseys, so that was pretty cool,” Bowen said, laughing. “He had a good time in the locker room.”

Getting to be with his family was important, Bowen said.

“All of the things we’ve missed over the years, it doesn’t make up for it, but it does make it feel a little better,” he said. “The basketball games, my daughter graduating from college. I made it to my son’s graduation, but I didn’t get to go to his graduation party. I missed out on a lot, but to have a chance to celebrate with everybody was pretty awesome.

“Having my brother come in and be a part of it was really special. Being there with him was pretty incredible. It was great for him to be there. He’s been on this journey, too. He’s been my No. 1 fan since way back when. He’s been there from Day 1.”

Bowen was a four-year starter at Iowa after graduating from Fort Madison (Iowa) High School. He scored 1,090 points and had 804 rebounds in his career with the Hawkeyes, and posted 23 double-doubles in his career.

Bowen was a second-round pick by the Nuggets in 1998, and spent one season playing professionally in Turkey before returning to play in Denver the following season. His NBA stops also included Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City.

After his playing career in the NBA ended, Bowen came back to Iowa and joined McCaffery’s staff as a video coordinator, which he did for one season before becoming an NBA assistant with the Nuggets.

Bowen heard from McCaffery throughout the NBA playoffs.

“Fran’s kind of been texting me along the way, saying ‘Congratulations,’ ‘Go get another one,’ things like that,” Bowen said.

Bowen spent part of his Tuesday back at the team’s facility for an NBA draft workout. With the draft coming next Thursday, followed by the NBA’s Summer League, the quest for next year has already started.

There is the parade to celebrate this championship on Thursday, though.

“I made it a point last year when the Avs won (the NHL’s Stanley Cup) — I wanted to go watch the parade,” Bowen said. “I took the kids down there, we stood in line, we watched the fire trucks go by. And the kids were like, ‘That’s going to be you next year.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know about that.’ But here we are. That’s going to be another one of those moments when it really sinks in. ‘I’m on a fire truck going through downtown Denver right now.’”