Despite many great players passing through their history, the Denver Nuggets still don’t have a quote on quote “face of the franchise.”
While many could possibly guys like Dikembe Mutombo, Alex English or even Carmelo Anthony for being the face of the Nuggets and their history, many NBA fans still don’t remember these players were key parts of Denver’s history.
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The Spurs have Tim Duncan, the Bulls have Michael Jordan, the Heat have Dwyane Wade and the Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki. However, no one really associates a face of the franchise when it comes to the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic looks like he could be on this type of trajectory, but he has to spend his entire career with Denver.
Guys like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan spent most or their entire tenure with one team. English and Mutombo played for multiple teams throughout their career, which highlights one of the Nuggets’ biggest difficulties. Being able to convince their stars to stay in the Mile High long term.
Of course, the most recent and infamous example of this is when Carmelo Anthony bolted for home, the city of New York. In a way, not having a face of the franchise is a problem because a team who doesn’t have this signature career player is something which can sub consciously drive away a potential free agent who could have a positive impact for the team. Hopefully, Jokic can become this player for the Nuggets, but they need to start working on a max deal for him yesterday.
Otherwise, another team will snatch him up and Denver will be back in an all too familiar spot. A spot they have been too many times.
Next: Alex English's basketball resume
The Nuggets need to find their Tim Duncan and they need to do it soon if they want to lure more free agents in the future.