The world can learn from the Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are the team that nobody saw coming.

“Nobody wants us here, nobody thinks we can do something. We proved to ourselves and everyone else we can do something”

That is what Nuggets’ star center Nikola Jokic said following Denver’s Game 7 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.

The win marked the first time in NBA history a team had overcome two separate 3-1 deficits in the same postseason, a testament to the Nuggets’ resilience.

Once Kawhi Leonard made his early morning decision to sign with the Clippers, and the franchise traded away a multitude of draft picks to acquire Paul George, many “national media pundits” believed the Clippers were a lock to reach the NBA Finals.

Denver was just 1-2 against the Clippers during the regular season, with their only win being at the Pepsi Center. This was before the Marcus Morris trade and with George being sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Coming off a grueling, seven-game series against the Utah Jazz, many expected the Nuggets to crumble to the presumptive favorites in five games or so.

Through four games, those predictions seemed on the mark.

However, following Game 4’s loss, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said, “I think we do have a confidence in being a resilient group and being a team that when everyone else has written us off, we have found a way.”

And find a way they did.

There is a lesson to be learned from this squad. A squad full of underdogs, players who were not supposed to become superstars, or even make an NBA roster.

A team full of homegrown talent, (Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Monte Morris, Torrey Craig and Michael Porter Jr.). In other words—a family.

That is not to say this team’s success came without its trials and tribulations.

Malone and the Nuggets finished just 33-49 in his first season as head coach.

The following year, during the Nuggets’ 80th game of the regular season, Russell Westbrook capped off a historic season with a game-winner in Denver, subsequently eliminating the Nuggets from playoff contention.

During the 2017-18 season, despite winning 46 games, Denver once again finished 9th in the Western Conference standings after losing a “play-in” game to the Minnesota Timberwolves on the final night of the regular season.

The Nuggets finally made their triumphant return to the playoffs during the 2018-19 season, finishing the regular season with 54 wins, and securing the 2nd seed in the Western Conference stnadings.

In his first career playoff series, Jokic averaged 23.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 9.1 assists, and took down a veteran San Antonio Spurs team in a thrilling seven-game series.

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The Joker upped his averaged to 27.1 points and 13.9 rebounds in the Nuggets’ next series against the Portland Trail Blazers but a four-point loss in Game 7 knocked Denver out of the playoffs.

Yet, the team’s first playoff run since 2013 had left Nuggets fans very encouraged about the future of the organization.

This year, after maintaining the West’s 3rd seed for the majority of the season, Denver entered their first round playoff series against a division rival—the Utah Jazz.

After dropping three of their first four games, “typical Denver Nuggets” seemed to be on the minds of NBA fans throughout the world. But on the backs of Murray and Jokic, the Nuggets prevailed.

Murray (and his opponent Donovan Mitchell) joined Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson as the only players to record multiple 50-point games in a single playoff series, as the Nuggets became the 12th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit.

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Jokic also deserves credit for not backing down to a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, as he quietly averaged 26.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the series.

All that brings us to today.

After what many believed was an unachievable series victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver now faces arguably their toughest challenge yet.

LeBron James and the first-seed Los Angeles Lakers.

Nonetheless, this group has repeatedly shown there is no obstacle they are afraid of.

“They gotta worry about us too,” Murray said when asked how he felt heading into Denver’s series against the Lakers.

This team did not overcome hardships because of one superstar player, it was a collective, unifying effort by the entire team. Opposed to acting entitled with an incoherent collection of prima donnas, the Nuggets began at square one, built from the ground up and are now reaping the benefits of that decision.

For a society with so much hostility, racial tension and polarization, let this be a lesson to the world.

In order to succeed, you need a game plan, perseverance and most importantly, unity.

“It’s simple for us,” Jokic said following Game 7’s victory over the Clippers. “We just have to go out there with effort and have fun.”

For this team and Nuggets fans alike, the fun has just begun. Hopefully the rest of the world can follow suit.