Woody Paige: 47 years of disrespect for the Nuggets is swept away

May 23—"I — think — I can, I — think — I can ... I-thought-I-could, I-thought-I-could."

— "The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper

The Nuggets thought they could scale the mountain, and the Little Team That Could, would.

The arduous journey has taken 47 seasons, and Our Little Old Dusty Cowtown's disrespected, disparaged, dissed basketball team from the disregarded time zone, at long last, after all, has defeated the demons of decades to arrive at the NBA Finals finally.

The definitive destination requires four more victories before Denver's destiny darlings will complete the imponderable mission and reach the impossible dream.

This one's for The Joker and Jamal.

This one's also for Byron Beck, Dan Issel, David Thompson, Alex English, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Dikembe Mutombo, Bobby Jones, Fat Lever, Fatty Taylor, Doug Moe, Larry Brown, George Karl and, yes, Michael Malone. And for Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green.

And this one is for Carl Scheer and 18 Denver businessmen who bought the Nuggets in partnership for $1 million, borrowed $4.5 mil to keep the franchise from bankruptcy and permanent extinction or a move to San Diego when the NBA agreed to absorb four teams from the ABA in August 1976. And this one's for Red McCombs — who unfortunately recently died before seeing his former franchise make the Finals — and Charlie Lyons, Bill Ringsby and Stan and Josh Kroenke, who genuinely love basketball, and exceeded the league salary cap, more than hockey, soccer and even football even though they won't put the team's game on the majority of TVs in Colorado.

This one's for Nugget Nation, which faithfully kept believing from 1996 to 2023 that someday pyrite would turn into 24-carat gold.

The original Nuggets won only 11 games of 62 (with a 1-25 record on the road) when they played in the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association in 1949-50. They left the league and didn't return until 46 seasons later. That was in 1995-96, shortly before the Nuggets played the New York Nets, who played on Long Island, in the last ABA Finals.

The Nuggets held a 22-point lead in the third quarter of Game 6 at the Nassau Coliseum and could have tied the series at 3. But, as then-coach Larry Brown and I discussed a few weeks ago before the playoffs, I heard Nets coach Kevin Loughery during a timeout order Julius "Dr. J" Erving and the team to "beat the (bleep) out of 'em because the refs won't call all the fouls, and Denver will fold." The Nets did, and the Nugs did. New York won 112-106.

"Worst loss of my life," Brown said to me. "I'm hoping for the Nuggets to make it to the Finals this season."

That they have.

Yet, they have fallen in four previous Western Conference Finals — to the Sonics in 1978 and the Lakers in 1985, 2009 and 2020.

This time, they earned their just revenge by beating the Lakers in four straight games — with a total point difference of only 24.

After bowing to the Lakers, the Suns and the Warriors in three successive playoff series, the Nuggets took their pre-season training in 2022 to San Diego (where the franchise almost ended up 48 years ago), and Malone, Jokic and Murray and Porter, who had come back after severe injuries (knee and back), vowed to win the Nuggets' first title.

I wrote at the beginning of the season that the Nuggets would fulfill their ultimate goal. Nobody else in the NBA or the basketball world agreed. Even when the Nuggets elevated to the No. 1 seed in late December, they weren't judged as serious contenders. Despite scuffling at the end of the regular season, the Nuggets held onto the top spot. The Suns had acquired Kevin Durant, and the Lakers had reset their roster, the Warriors were looking for a repeat championship, and the Grizzlies, Kings, Clippers and Timberwolves were contenders.

And here's how the Nuggets were insulted: Jokic no longer was the MVP, even though he deserved the honor for a third straight year, was made fun of as if he were still the fat kid in Serbia and did not make the All-NBA first team. He had been left to the end, like the last kid on the playground, of the NBA All-Star draft by captain LeBron James, and Gordon, who was a worthy candidate for the midseason spectacular, did not receive a call. Bubble Murray wasn't even considered. And Porter and Caldwell-Pope were deemed garden-variety starters in the league. Nobody from the Nuggets was on the all-defensive team, up for the Sixth Man honor or any of the myriad awards.

Rodney Dangerfield got more respect.

The Nuggets were as much an underdog as a petit basset griffon Vendéen at the Westminster Dog Show. Well, Buddy Holly won, and the Nuggets chopped down the Timberwolves, set the Suns, and sank the Lakers — as easy at 5-6-4 — and own a 12-3 record in the postseason and are undefeated in six home games.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis said Monday night the Nuggets were the best team they have played since they've been together, and LeBron exceedingly praised Jokic. The world seems to get the Nuggets now.

And, yes, all five of the Nuggets starters are under contract for at least one more season or more. The Joker and Jamal wish to play for the Nuggets for the rest of their NBA careers. Stars in the past that did not want any part of playing or living in Colorado will have a new attitude about altitude, And the NBA and ESPN never again will show a "Taco Bell" commercial when the Nuggets' draft pick is announced.

Jokic is the best player in the league, and he says Murray is the best player on the team.

The Nuggets don't have dysfunction, distractions, distress, bad actors, self-obsessed characters and whiners (since trading Bones Hyland). They have a team that will be vying for championships for years.

Glory be ... in the 2023 NBA Finals.

The Nuggets are The Little Engine that Could, Would and Should.

This is the one.