DENVER — Before the smell of cheap champagne and cigars filled the air, before the fireworks blazed outside Ball Arena, Nikola Jokiu0107 was being lifted off his 285-pound frame by his older brothers.
Little did he know validation was raining down on him, the most aware on-court player in the NBA oblivious to what was around him.
It wasn’t justice, like Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 2021 ring. Nor was it vindication, as was the case for Stephen Curry last June.
Jokiu0107 and the Nuggets needed to win this championship, this way, finishing off the stubborn Miami Heat in Game 5 with a tough and ugly win Monday night.