Why Nuggets' Championship Run Should Make Spurs Hopeful for Future
JUNE 12 — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the only player on the Denver Nuggets' roster with an NBA title, eagerly dribbles the ball across half court as the game clock — already recording tenths of a second — continues to make its way to triple zeros.
The shooting guard had just jumped in the paint off of a missed 3-pointer by Miami's Kyle Lowry to grab his fourth rebound of the night ... which was fitting. Caldwell-Pope was on his fourth team in 10 years — second in two seasons — and wanted nothing more than to win another ring ever since he did so with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the bubble.
Knowing he needs to hear the final buzzer before letting the ball leave his hands, Caldwell-Pope stops behind the arc at his team's corner and waits until finally the buzzer sounds and he has his chance.
Was he thinking about his 10-year journey to get to where he was? Was he already looking for his family in the crowd, or was he just focused on holding the ball?
None of it mattered in the moment for the veteran. He thrusted the ball in the air and instantly went to celebrate, though a lot was different about Monday night compared to his first championship.
Instead of a limited crowd consisting of just some players' families, Ball Arena was filled with nearly 20,000 fans — some of which had been yearning for an NBA championship since the ABA merger in 1976 — and Caldwell-Pope's family.
"I didn't have the crowd or my family in the bubble," Caldwell-Pope said. "It was just my brothers on the team [then], but here it's different. I had the crowd and my family. I was able to get my kids on the court with me after we won.
"Enjoying that experience with them [made me] happy."
The shooting guard's experience was something that just about every player on the Nuggets' roster got to experience. Superstar center Nikola Jokic embraced his entire family while an emotional Jamal Murray took it all in, having overcome personal adversity surrounding his injury to once again put himself among the league's top playmakers.
The difference between Caldwell-Pope and the rest of his teammates, however, made the Nuggets' win that much more meaningful: it was their first time.
Behind Jokic and company, the Nuggets had finally done what only the San Antonio Spurs had done before. They were also among the four teams that joined the NBA at the merger and became just the second to win it all, 24 years after the Spurs won their first.
The Spurs now have five, but even though it's been years since they've had a level of success like they did with their big three, they should see the Nuggets' success as a blueprint for future success — they should be extremely hopeful.
This year's Denver squad has a shockingly similar feel to the 2014 Spurs in terms of postseason dominance, though there are some key differences.
Jokic stands at the center of the Nuggets success, being both a facilitator and scorer on offense, as well as a force on defense.
The 6-11 center was just shy of averaging a triple-double on the year, tallying 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists to go along with his 1.3 steaks and 0.7 blocks per game. He was also in the running for his third straight MVP Award, which garnered him league-wise respect from both players and analysts.
His dominance would have been on par with that of the Spurs' big-three during their heyday, when all three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker averaged nearly 50 percent from the field, averaging 15.1, 12.3 and 16.7 points, respectively. Kawhi Leonard added also a presence on defense, averaging 1.7 steals per game, to round out the monster production that came from coach Gregg Popovich's squad.
Popovich. Therein lies the reason for Spurs hope, especially with the hand he's about to be given.
Assuming the 27th-year coach stays in San Antonio, he'll get a chance to develop another European talent in Victor Wembanyama.The 7-4 center is expected to be drafted with the No. 1 overall pick and could be the player to help "reorient" the Spurs in the coming years, especially with a coach who's known success in the past, with five titles to his name.
But how does that relate to the Nuggets and their success?
When Jokic first came into the league, he wasn't expected to become the unstoppable force he is, especially for multiple years.
“We get all this unfair credit for drafting him,” Nuggets President Tim Connelly told The Athletic. “We had two picks prior. We could have picked him earlier. We waited [until] 41. It was just kind of lucky scouting, to be honest with you.”
Lucky or not, Jokic quietly improved every offseason, quickly becoming a triple-double threat. By his third year in the league, he was averaging a double-double and began recording double-digit triple-double totals — a streak that has only continued.
"The Joker" averaged 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists in the playoffs, finishing just shy of a triple-double average throughout the four-round tourney. He finally led his team over the hump this season, though it took seven before he was an NBA champion.
Wembanyama is set to be as great a prospect as James was during his first years in Cleveland. Similar to Jokic, James took eight seasons before finally winning a title with the Heat, so there shouldn't be any added pressure for Wembanyama to win instantly, though his talent will likely be instantly recognizable.
That’s what sets Wembanyama apart from other prospects.
This season for Metropolitans 92, the center averaged 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and three blocks. He's set to bring both offensive and defensive talent to San Antonio, which could even increase if Dallas Mavericks' superstar Luka Doncic's testimony rings true.
Doncic, like Jokic, is one of the league's most prolific scorers, and spoke to the difference in difficulty between playing internationally and in the NBA.
"European basketball is more team basketball," Doncic said. "It's very different. The court is smaller, the fouls are different ... and you have less time. There's way better players [in the NBA], but ... it's 100 percent [easier to score 30 points]."
Averaging in the 20s for Wembanyama could mean that his points per game will increase, and if they increase by even one point, he'd already be averaging more points than any current Spurs player.
He wouldn't push San Antonio over the top alone, however.
Jokic had Murray, and when he was healthy, the duo was nearly unstoppable for even the league's best defenders — the Nuggets did sweep James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers after all — which boded well for their overall success.
Next season, Wembanyama could have Keldon Johnson as a secondary-scorer if the Spurs decide to hold onto him for the foreseeable future. If not him, younger players like Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell and even Tre Jones could allow the center to have options when facilitating an offense.
Whoever it may be, Wembanyama would be able to thrive that much more, like the two all-time great Spurs centers that came before him. Only he'd be carving out his own legacy at the same time.
"It's just basketball," Wembanyama told BasketNews. "I have no pressure, no fear. I'm trying to have fun every time. You know, people have doubts, but I'm going to prove them wrong."
Prove them wrong he will certainly try to do … just like the Nuggets did this season.
When Caldwell-Pope threw the basketball in the air to celebrate his second title, it was a special moment for all of Denver. Its title run was a defining moment for the city, as it was when Duncan and the Spurs brought a trophy home in 1999.
Whether the Nuggets will become the next dynasty is unknown, but they're certainly on the right path behind Jokic, the player who showed that a center can be a franchise's centerpiece. The city, its fans and even the Nuggets' coaches knew that.
But they were still grateful.
Popeye Jones was the biggest example of that. A former Nuggets player turned coach, he embraced Jokic with a hug immediately after the game, having just two words for him: "Thank you."
It was a simple phrase, but one that meant more to Jokic than anything else.
"Since day one, there was something different about this team," he said after the Nuggets' Finals victory. "It's not just the starting five, it's the whole team. I'm not really an optimistic guy, but I felt we could do something ... I had hope."
Nikola Jokic never took the credit for his team's success. He was simply another player with the same mentality as his teammates. He was never about the spotlight, or individual awards.
He never needed a "Thank you" either, but he got one anyway.
Now, Wembanyama and Popovich will now look to once again win an NBA title, hoping to bring the Spurs back to their glory days — ones that San Antonio knows well.
Denver proved it was possible, leaving the Spurs to be hopeful at the thought of being back at the top of the league.And if all goes well, Wembanyama may be the next great center to earn "thank-you's" from ecstatic Spurs fans.
At least that's what he'll be be hoping for.
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