The Denver Nuggets are the 2023 NBA champions after beating the feisty and resilient Miami Heat in five games and taking Game 5 despite a desperate effort from Miami.
The lion’s share of the attention is and will be focused on finals MVP Nikola Jokic, who had an incredible postseason. It is also the culmination of a physically and mentally painful journey for Jamal Murray, who rebounded from a torn ACL two years ago to win it all.
But this championship is also an affirmation that in the end, patient team-building trumps hurried efforts to build a superteam.
The Nuggets have gradually built this squad, beginning with the selection of Jokic in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft and Murray two years later at No. 7. They didn’t make the playoffs with this crew until 2019. From there, they simply added to their core rather than hastily trading it for a big name.
It is a model the rest of the league, including the Los Angeles Lakers, needs to pay attention to and emulate.