Strike 2: The entire Denver Nuggets organization should just go ahead and skip the NBA All-Star weekend altogether. Full on boycott. No one affiliated with the organization should be anywhere near Indianapolis next weekend.
Everyone should just take a vacation. Go somewhere warm and relax and recuperate. Get recharged. Gear up for what promises to be a rugged stretch run in the NBA’s Western Conference.
As everyone around here knows, and is used to by now, Nikola Jokic is Denver’s only All-Star selection, again. The stats say that Joker is the all-time All-Star game selection leader in games played while not playing alongside another All-Star. As telling as that is in relation to his status as the league’s true MVP, everyone who actually pays attention knows that when the Nuggets have been fully healthy, Joker has had All-Star worthy teammates alongside him. The league has – and still does – simply failed to recognize them.
For instance, despite his stellar postseason performances, all the glistening numbers he’s put up, and all he’s done to help the Nuggets become champions, Jamal Murray was overlooked yet again. While the mediocre Lakers – whom Murray just recently scorched, again, have two All-Stars, the team that has beaten them seven straight times has just one. Makes a lot of sense, right?
It’s a joke. That’s what it is. It’s shameful and should be embarrassing for the league.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Denver has always been, and continues to be – even as the defending NBA champs – all but totally overlooked and disrespected when it comes to the accompanying All-Star game sideshows as well, like the Slam Dunk contest (which was born right here in Denver, btw) the 3-point shootout and the Skills Challenge. This year is no different.
No Nuggets were chosen to compete in any of the preliminaries, either.
While none of this really matters in the big picture, it does matter to the players who aren’t involved. For instance, anyone who has seen Denver play knows that Aaron Gordon – who should have been an All-Star last season – is one of the best and most ferocious dunkers in all of basketball. But the league is featuring someone named Jacob Toppin in the Slam Dunk contest because he plays for, you guessed it, the New York Knicks. Anyone heard of rookie Jamie Jaquez Jr, who allegedly plays for the Miami Heat? He’s a better dunker than AG?
Another joke, right?
Michael Porter Jr. is among the best 3-point shooters in the league, but continues to be overlooked too. And among rookies and second year players, Peyton Watson is surely one of the best 15 of those guys available. Instead, viewers will get to learn how to pronounce the name of rookie Bilal Coulibaly, a true difference maker for the powerful and totally deserving Washington Wizards.
Another total and complete joke.
Given the circumstances, there is simply no reason for anyone in the Denver Nuggets organization to even bother to travel to Indianapolis. No front office folks, coaches or players. Why would they?
Joker should withdraw with a made up injury, and no Nuggets player should be made available to take his place. And when injuries or whatever happens elsewhere pop up at the last minute, no Nuggets should be made available to fill those spots, either. Why allow league officials to suddenly feel like they’re doing you a solid when they’ve totally disrespected you from the start?
Nope. Denver should stay completely out. Have the league explain why their defending champions are going unrepresented at their mid-season spectacle.
Let the joke be on the rest of the NBA.
