Fandom from Afar
Join me as I discuss my journey as a Colorado sports fan living in Florida and my interviews with sports fans that are forced to enjoy their favorite teams from a distance.
Fandom from Afar
Jokic and the Nuggets Celebrate Fatherhood
What happens when the Denver Nuggets find themselves without their star player, Nikola Jokic? We unravel the recent tumultuous stretch for the Nuggets, including Jokic's brief absence due to the joyous occasion of his son's birth. As fans of basketball and fatherhood, we dive into how the team struggled without their MVP, resulting in tough losses to the Pelicans and Grizzlies. We shine a light on Jamal Murray's hurdles in stepping up during Jokic's absence. This episode is a heartfelt reflection on fatherhood, both in the literal and metaphorical sense, as we also celebrate Coach Michael Malone's leadership and milestones with the Nuggets.
But that's not all! We explore the concept of "dad strength," drawing amusing parallels between Jokic's on-court prowess and the effortless strength of a father playing with his children. We also touch on the Philadelphia 76ers' own challenges as Tyrese Maxey voices his concerns about Joel Embiid's tardiness, raising eyebrows about leadership across the league. You'll hear about Coach Malone's journey to becoming the winningest coach in Nuggets history, with a special nod to the joys of fatherhood. With a mix of sports analysis and personal anecdotes, we offer warm congratulations to Jokic on his new chapter as a father.
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all right, everyone welcome back to fandom from afar. It has been a roller coaster of a couple weeks since we last recorded uh losses to the pelicans, grizzlies and mavs and then a couple of good wins against the grizzlies and the lakers. Uh, the big news obviously was Jokic missed three games. They didn't announce it for quite a while. I guess there must be some rule that if the family has not announced why he's out for personal reasons, then the team or the media is not allowed to report on it. There were rumors going around and no one really denied the fact that he was just spending time with his family because his wife gave birth to a little baby boy. So that's obviously very exciting for Jokic and his family. And yeah, it kind of is a little bit of a blessing in disguise, because he pretty much got two full weeks off after playing quite a few minutes early on in the season and so just kind of a nice little break for him, not only to spend time with the family but also just to make sure wear and tear doesn't get to him too early on in the season.
Speaker 1:So my theme today is going to be all about celebrating fatherhood, since it's such a big week for the Jokic family. So let's go First one. I labeled it Father-Son Picnic. Now I did that because I don't know if you've ever seen a father-son picnic, or even maybe a teacher-student basketball game, when really the adults can do almost whatever they want and the kids are kind of there just to be the recipient of some really fun passes or get their shot blocked into the stands. So I think this week was kind of like that for the Nuggets, because when Jokic went out it looked like the Nuggets were the students or all the sons that were so used to having a dad on their team that could set them up for good shots or just kind of control everything that they had no idea what to do.
Speaker 1:When Jokic was out of the game the loss to the Pelicans and the Grizzlies they were really disheartening. Both of the Pelicans and the Grizzlies were missing quite a few players due to injury and I know the Nuggets are too. Obviously the Nuggets were without Aaron Gordon and Jokic for both of those games. So that's two key players missing. But when you have Jamal Murray, that's two key players missing. But when you have jamal murray, that's making, uh, max money. Or mpj, that's making max money, or just even the quality role players that I think the nuggets have. You would expect them to be able to beat teams that are as depleted as the pelicans and grizzlies were, but they looked awful.
Speaker 1:I know it's always tough to take one game and really make big picture judgments on the players and the team, but those two games back to back really showed how much the Nuggets rely on Jokic. And even in their loss to the Mavericks, when Jokic came back, it almost seemed like the Nuggets were like, oh good, jokic is back, we don't have to do anything. They just expect him to kind of do everything, which he does. But they started out that game so slow and with no energy except forokic. He obviously put up amazing numbers but they fell behind by 24 and fought their way back but couldn't quite pull it out. And it's it's really. It's alarming just to see these guys, who are amazing basketball players in their own right, just kind of have no idea what to do without Jokic and I don't know how to fix that. Like it's really, I guess, a mindset thing for the players that are playing. But in those two losses to the Pelicans and the Grizzlies they just had no joy. There was no spacing, like it was almost just like they didn't know how to play and obviously they lost those. Now they did play the Grizzlies in back-to-back games, like they had two games in Memphis. So they lost the first one and looked terrible. And they did come back and win the second game, which was a nice little bounce back game. So that was good to see. But I don't know, it's just it just baffling. These guys are so good at basketball, except when Jokic is off the floor, things just fall apart, and so that's obviously been a theme of the last few years, but it was just really evident in these games recently because there was no reason why the Pelicans and the Grizzlies should have beat the Nuggets and yet it wasn't even close.
Speaker 1:Now, in the second game against the Grizzlies, jamal Murray I feel like he stepped up. He had 27 points. It was kind of one of those nights where that's what you want to see out of Jamal. He's our second highest paid player. We're paying him over $50 million per year and normally players that get paid that much can run a team on their own or lead a team on their own, and Jamal has just not shown the ability to do that.
Speaker 1:He, he, like I said, he had a good game against the Grizzlies, but in those other games, just I think Jamal's in his head like the consistency is not there, the effort's not there and for the first time in his career, I kind of think, the confidence isn't there. He, I think he's feeling the pressure, not necessarily the pressure of the contract, but the pressure of being the second best player. And I think he realizes that he has not performed because for the last few years this has been the case for Jamal. He just doesn't run the bench unit well. When Jokic is out, he doesn't do well. He doesn't run the bench unit well when Jokic is out, he doesn't do well.
Speaker 1:And the excuse was always well, jamal will, he'll step up in the playoffs, like that's, that's his time. He needs that motivation to really, uh, perform at the highest level. But then in the most recent playoff, he, he, he didn't perform. Um, he hit some game winners but overall, you, you would not say that he had a great playoff. And that was kind of capped off with some of the mental breakdowns of throwing the heat pad onto the floor and just he didn't look good. And so the excuse that myself and other Nuggets fans who were always able to say, well, he'll step up when it counts in the playoffs. That's kind of gone, because now you're stacking bad regular seasons onto a most recent bad playoff and it's getting a little worrying. Um, I think you can easily say that Jamal has been the seventh best Denver nugget this year. Obviously, jokic has been amazing, mpj Christian Brown awesome season so far, really impressed with how they've stepped up. Aaron Gordon, before he got hurt, was playing well. Even Russell Westbrook and Peyton Watson have stepped up in the last couple of weeks. And so you just go down the line and you can honestly say all those guys have been better than Jamal this year.
Speaker 1:And we're paying Jamal $50 million. It's hard not to think about if we had another player kind of at that level that's getting paid that much, how dominant we would be, because usually players that get paid that much are much more consistent, can provide much more scoring. For when your superstar is off the bench. And man, it's been so rough for Jamal. Yeah, I don't know if there's an immediate fix. Like I said, I really think his confidence is down. But on the brighter side of that, I almost think he's kind of realized what people have been saying the last couple years Because he's always been so defiant when reporters would bring up his struggles, or he clearly reads all the stuff on social media and gets mad at fans and media for what they're saying about him. But it really seems like maybe he's kind of realized that his performance is not backing up what he thinks he is in his own mind and so hopefully that'll be a turning point.
Speaker 1:Um, like I said at the beginning of the season, russell Westbrook was brought in here to motivate Jamal, and Westbrook is playing quite well, and so I'm hoping that this is really a turning point for Jamal where he sees how hard Russell Westbrook plays. He sees all the off the court training because Westbrook's obviously in phenomenal shape and Murray is just not. Jamal gets exhausted very quickly out there thicker Jamal when you can tell that he has not been doing his cardio and his arms are just kind of like tubes. But I was noticing in the Laker game last night, jamal you can see a little bit of definition in his shoulders and biceps, and so I'm hoping we're right about to turn the corner into Jamal being in shape and really being able to help the team a little bit more consistently. And, like I said, I hope, I hope Westbrook is part of that, um, but it's, it's been a little scary and and, like I said, for the first time ever, I'm worried that Jamal has lost confidence and we, we need them. Um, there's, there's no, uh, no way around it. We need Jamal.
Speaker 1:So second section I'm going to call dad strength. It's just a well-known fact that you get older and you just even maybe you don't work out, but you just get that dad strength. And so the way I'm thinking about this is, you know, if you're wrestling around with your son and no matter how old he gets, he's kind of he thinks he's doing pretty well, like you're kind of taking it easy on him, but then all of a sudden you kind of flip the switch and you try for a few seconds and the son's eyes get really big and he's like, oh, oh, okay, his strength is on a whole nother level. Well, that's Jokic. Jokic, he seems like a dad playing with his sons and the referees are allowing really physical play this year, which I kind of like.
Speaker 1:I don't like all the ticky-tack, fouls and stuff, but it's kind of ridiculous and Jokic has been pretty good about kind of laughing it off Like there's been so many games where he's getting double or triple teamed and they're just hanging on him and and just smacking him like crazy on every shot. And uh, of course he's Jokic, so he makes it, but he'll just cut. You can kind of see him just laughing on his way down the court and he'll talk to the referees and he's been doing a great job, because younger Jokic would have definitely been extremely frustrated with some of these non-calls and got some technicals and even kicked out of the game. But I think Jokic just knows like he's bigger, stronger than these guys and that's just how it is. It's almost like how Shaq used to get refereed as well, and so I think Yoko just it just kind of accepted that and he knows that he can turn it on and pretty much he can get to the basket and score, it seems like whenever he wants. Uh, a good example of that is, uh, the other night against Dallas. Uh, he went up to Russell Westbrook and said, hey, miss this free throw. And Westbrook and said, hey, miss this free throw. And Westbrook was like okay, and Jokic just knew that he could get the rebound over. I forget who it was for Dallas, but the Dallas player just tried to pretty much bear, hug him and tackle him and Jokic still got the ball put it in for a layup.
Speaker 1:Jokic knows he can do whatever he wants. He's at the peak of his powers and it's so amazing to watch. He right now is averaging 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists per game. That would be a career night for 99% of NBA players and yet that's what Jokic is averaging per game this year. It's just no doubt he's the best player in the world. He's having an amazing season and it's just so fun to watch him on the nuggets being the best player in the world and him doing what he does every night. It's. It's really, really an honor for for us fans to get to watch it and I hope we're enjoying it while it's happening.
Speaker 1:My third one um, not necessarily nuggets related, but I'm titling it. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. You know this is the ultimate dad phrase that, oh, it really gets you. If your dad can't even get mad, he's just disappointed in you because you did something just that. You know you weren't supposed to. And this kind of is what Tyrese Maxey had to say to Joel Embiid this week. It kind of got leaked that Maxey called out Embiid in a team meeting for being late for everything, it seems like and I don't think it was necessarily like a fight or anything like that, because apparently Embiid and Maxie are really close friends and I think the worrisome part for the 76ers is the fact that it got out, because I'm sure this happens all the time on teams.
Speaker 1:But it's just another example of maybe Joel Embiid just not having the right mindset, because he's obviously super skilled and just an amazing basketball player, but it seems like maybe he's not doing the small things off the court as far as being a leader and what you would hope for, your best player, and it really just seems like maybe the 76ers, or at least some of their players, have had enough of it, because it used to be. They could probably put up with that a little bit easier when he was putting up 30 points a game and being one of the top players in the league, but this season has just been such a mess for the Sixers. They had the worst players in the league, but this season has just been such a mess for the Sixers. They had the worst record in the NBA. They've had injuries to Maxie, paul George. Obviously Embiid has been in and out constantly. Embiid had the issue with the reporter where he got suspended for pushing him. It's just been a mess of a season for the 76ers and so I'm kind of sad to say, because I I have fun with imbeed on this podcast and, uh, I kind of looked at him as just a worthy rival for yokich because they were two of the top players in the league, like they finished one, two and mvp every year for the last couple years. And I'm sad to say I don't think I can do it anymore, just because Embiid's situation is just getting kind of sad and it's not fun picking on someone that's sad. So this might be the last time we mention Embiid for a while. Hopefully we can turn it around and we can have some fun again. But yeah, I agree with Maxie, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.
Speaker 1:Last section is who's your daddy? Now, this was obviously the famous quote that, uh, one of the media members in Denver, vic Lombardi, said at the Nuggets championship parade, and Lakers fans hilariously still think that it was Michael Malone that said that. Uh, which is fine. Uh, they, they just hate Malone now because of what? No matter who said it, the answer is obvious.
Speaker 1:The Nuggets own the Lakers and I love every bit of it. The Nuggets are 13-1 in the last 14 games against the Lakers and the game on Saturday just really I think it shows the Lakers almost kind of know that the Lakers have their number, lebron AD. As soon as things start swinging the nuggets way, they're kind of like, oh, here we go again. And even austin reeves is hitting some shots like rui has had some good moments, but like they, I think they just kind of know they can't stop yokich. Uh, anthony davis is an amazing defender. He's had an amazing season so far, but he looked like he wanted no part of yokich. Last night the nuggets were the team on the second night of a back-to-back, yet yokich was running up and down the floor and anthony davis could not keep up. And yokich, of course, put up amazing numbers while davis you could hardly even tell he was out there. And so it's just it's. It's really just fun, because there was a long stretch there where the Lakers owned the nuggets. So obviously it'll flip back uh again the other way someday, but for right now this is a really fun stretch where the, the nuggets really can do whatever they want against the, against the Lakers with the wind last night, coach Malone uh did become the nuggets all time leader in wins, which is huge.
Speaker 1:He really has to be looked at as the coach when you think of a coach for the Nuggets. He passed Doug Moe, which is a pretty amazing accomplishment. Doug Moe had 432 wins and was kind of looked at as the most successful coach in Nuggets history. I didn't think there was any way that people would be able to pass him. But coach Malone has been here for nine or 10 years and just really had quality teams and hopefully he still has nine or 10 years left to go. So I love what coach Malone has done, because people forget before him.
Speaker 1:The Brian Shaw era was just such a disaster and really one of the low moments for the Nuggets franchise. There was just nothing positive to say about the Nuggets culture, the Nuggets team during that time and Coach Malone turned it around pretty quickly. And then obviously it helps that you get one of the best players of any generation coming in. Obviously it helps that you get one of the best players of any generation coming in, but you have to give Coach Malone credit that he saw something different in Jokic and gave him a chance, because Jokic is so different. There's plenty of coaches out there that would not have given him a chance and just either relegated him to the bench or even really just not even gave him a chance to play, because he doesn't have the look of a superstar. He doesn't have the look of a normal NBA player. He doesn't play like anyone else, and so the fact that Malone was willing to take a chance on him obviously changed the whole history of the Nuggets and really the NBA and so the culture that he set up.
Speaker 1:He, he is hard on guys, um, but I think he does a great job of balancing that tough love with a, a love like just he. You can tell that he really, truly cares about the guys and they respect him because of the fact that he does care about him, but he also is trying to push them to be better. Of the fact that he does care about them, but he also is trying to push them to be better, and so he's been a little bit tougher on some guys in PJ than others. Uh, but the the trio of Yoke, mpj and Murray have all grown up with coach Malone. Uh, they, they were all so young when they came to the nuggets and now they are grown men with an NBA championship ring and I love that. Obviously, aaron Gordon is in there as well. We traded for him. But all those guys are going to be thought of together and I really hope the Nuggets can win one, two, three more championships with this core and just they would all be remembered together in basketball or Nuggets history as just kind of like a group and I love that. Like the Nuggets built something special. They won the championship and hopefully they're not done.
Speaker 1:One thing I love that Coach Malone did. If you've listened to this podcast at all, you know I can't help but mention, uh, some of the disrespect that the national national media gives uh the nuggets and their players and he, he really bought into that uh, because for when the nuggets were on kind of their rise and and their young players were developing and Jokic was becoming one of the best players, there was still a lot of yeah buts in the national media and there just really wasn't a respect to it. Just obviously the Nuggets had to earn that, but also they were just doing it differently with a different type of superstar, and I think Malone was very early to jump on that and notice that and really the fans love him for it. Uh, one of his first big quotes was uh, the nuggets had a great win in ball arena against the Lakers and because the nuggets were still kind of on the come up, half the stadium was filled with Lakers fans. Just because that's how it was for so long, because the nuggets um were bad and there's just a lot of California fans in Denver and obviously the Lakers are a trendy team to love with LeBron. But we had that big win that night. And in the postgame press conference, coach Malone, he just came out and said it. He's like, yeah, there was a lot of Lakers fans here tonight, but they can take their L on the way out and Nuggets fans just loved it. Dmvr guys, they made a shirt out of it. I wore it during the game on Saturday night, as I always do when they play the Lakers. And he knows how to kind of feel the fan base and say like, hey, I feel you guys, I know what you're thinking, I know what you see and he's right there along with us.
Speaker 1:When Jokic was coming up as a young player, there was levels to it. People wanted to compare him. They didn't think he was as good as Jaleel Okafor, and then they didn't think he was as good as Porzingis, and then they didn't think he was as good as Carl Anthony Towns, and then it was Embiid, and so there's always been levels to it. But, uh, coach Malone bought right into that too. He's he's famous for kind of going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know who that guy is in Philly, but I know our young center had 40, 15, and 10 tonight, and so he knows just what the fans love and I think he's bought into that. He even got a Nuggets tattoo after the championship. And so Coach Malone is our guy and, to continue on with the theme of today, he is the father figure to these Nuggets. He's helped them grow up into players and, uh, I couldn't be happier for him that he he is now the winningest coach in Nuggets history and uh, congrats to coach. So fatherhood, it's one of the best things ever. I'm, uh, I love being a father myself. And uh, congrats to Jokic and his family on the new baby boy. Thanks for listening everybody.
