An awards campaign has already been launched two weeks into the Nuggets’ 2023-24 season, but its true origins are as organic as a one-on-one pickup basketball game. The inspiration dates back to February 2015.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was no longer a rookie when Reggie Jackson joined the Pistons at the trade deadline, but the second-year guard was still building his reputation. Jackson, three years older than KCP, faced him in one-on-one shortly after the trade.
“I think I can play ones pretty well,” Jackson told The Denver Post. “I haven’t met too many guys that can stay in front of me.