The Denver Nuggets won in thrilling fashion Wednesday night, and coach Michael Malone had some words for the fans that showed up to help root on his team.
The Nuggets had 3,661 fans in attendance for the game, filling up only 19 percent of the Pepsi Center.
The weather conditions were horrible in the Denver metro area. So bad, in fact, that Denver International Airport was shut down entirely.
Upwards of two feet of snow and blizzard like conditions swarmed the state. Schools were closed, work places were shut down and the streets were covered. And through all that, the game went on!
The fans that did show up were in for a treat, which included a game winning shot by Emmanuel Mudiay.
“Obviously, every in the building, all 3,661 people in the stands probably thought the game was over,” Malone told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “And Emmanuel steps up and makes a (heck) of a shot. I couldn’t be happier for him, I couldn’t be happier for our guys.”
Those fans are the “diehard” fans the Nuggets have been searching for, and on Wednesday night they showed that they are alive and well.
The Nuggets home attendance has been putrid all year, currently ranking dead last in the NBA. Yes, behind the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
However, Wednesday night showed that there are such things as a true, proud, Nuggets-loving sports fans out in Colorado.
“I’ll be honest, I did not want my family driving here,” Malone said. “We cancelled shoot around because of the weather. For all of the people that did show up, we really appreciate them braving the elements and the weather. Those are true fans.”
Although there weren’t a lot of fans at the game, it was nice to see that over 3,000 decided to show up despite the horrible weather conditions.
The “true fan” is alive and well in Denver; although the number is not staggering, it is there, and that is something to be proud of as a fan of the team.
