This Video Of Aaron Gordon Celebrating With Nuggets Fans In The Streets Of Denver After Winning The NBA Championship Is So Fucking Awesome
Apologies for the extremely basic title but I really had no other words to describe that video. It's like a scene out of a movie where the underdogs from a small town finally come through and win the title then celebrate with the locals in the street, except in this case the 2022-23 Nuggets were the one seed in the West that beat the shit out of every team they played for a cool 16-4 playoff record.
One of my few fond memories as a Mets fan was staying at Shea Stadium after they clinched the 2006 NL East and being close enough to the field to smell the cigar that David Wright was smoking while he held up a sign that a person next to me made. I couldn't fathom partying with him downtown while he was still wearing some of his uniform after winning the title. Being a sports fan sucks a whole lot if you root for a team that flat out doesn't win titles since your happiness depends on how a bunch of total strangers play a kid's game. But that scene last night was the absolute zenith of why us idiots keep coming back for more every single year. Awesome shit all around and I hope every Nuggets fan that waited their entire life for last night will be riding the fumes of everything for the rest of the week.
Which takes me to my next point. Are the Nuggets the most likable champion of the last decade? I feel like people really rooted for the Warriors in the beginning of their title runs as Steph evolved from "Dell's kid that led Davidson to a long run in the NCAA Tournament" to "Human Cheat Code". But all the winning and Draymond nut punches took away a whole lot of that likability real quick. The Cavs that took down the Warriors after they jumped out to a 3-1 lead got a ton of love, especially as the Summer of JR bloomed in front of our eyes with JR Smith living the best life anybody has ever lived. However, any team involving LeBron is always gonna come with a shitload of hate, whether it was that Cavs team, the Lakers team that won in the bubble, or the Heat team that was the biggest sports villains of their time.
Kawhi's Raptors got the same sort of bump for beating the Warriors, but that felt more like it was about watching a robot like Kawhi actually show emotions after winning a title after leaving the Spurs, who never really resonated with everyone despite taking down the Heat.
But between Common Man Jokic who just wants to get the fuck home after finishing up his job, Aaron Gordon acting like the People's Champion in the streets of Denver, a bunch of role players who quietly do their roles, and Jamal Murray bouncing back from a torn ACL to win a chip then act like a bunch of guys being dudes with his Serbian big brother, I feel like the Nuggets have a chance to take that crown I just made up in my sleep deprived brain, even if it's partially because they are new and fresh champions which means nobody has had a chance to learn to hate them yet.
P.S. I believe Aaron Gordon was robbed in the 2016 Dunk Contest and everyone with eyeballs KNOWS he was robbed of the 2020 Dunk Contest by Dwyane Wade, which is why I hope beating the Heat in the Finals was a little sweeter for Gordon.