The Denver Nuggets decided not to comply with NBA champion protocol and canceled their traditional visit to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden.
Owner of the 2023 title, the Colorado franchise is more concerned with leading the Western Conference than with fulfilling the basketball league’s agenda. The information comes from Chris Haynes, a TNT journalist.
For coach Michael Malone, the team must be fully focused and healthy for the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, on the 19th, in a direct fight for first place.
The trip to the capital of the United States would take place on March 18th and would wear out the Nuggets squad, who would have to travel directly to Minnesota in a short space of time, in addition to losing crucial hours of training.
Currently, the Denver team is in third place in the West, with 43 wins — the same number as the Wolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, who are ahead of the current champions by having one fewer defeat.
Can Nuggets be two-time champions?
With less than 20 games left in the regular season, Malone is trying to repeat last year’s feat and finish the campaign in first place so that, in the postseason, he can have all the controls on the court in the West disputes.
Last year, the Nuggets reached 53 wins and suffered just 29 losses — just nine more than the current scenario. Game control was even guaranteed in the NBA Finals, against the Miami Heat, as they had a better campaign than their opponents between October 2022 and April 2023.
The franchise’s main star, Nikola Jokic still came in first place again in the race for the MVP award, which last year went to Joel Embiid. The Serb had won the honor in 2021 and 2022.
The scenario for the defending champions this year is even better in the current season; the main difference is the Adversaries. Last year, Thunder and Wolves qualified for the play-in, but only the Minnesota franchise reached the postseason, falling to the Nuggets in the first round.
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