The Idea That Nobody In The Media Talks About The Nuggets Because They Aren't Compelling Enough Is Patently Absurd

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There are quite a few enjoyable parts of the Denver Nuggets' run to the NBA Finals. The style of basketball they've played, the unbelievable and historic individual performances we've seen along the way, the teams they've beat, all that stuff has been awesome to watch.

But as I'm sure any Nuggets fan would agree, part of what has made this run so fun is how badly the Nuggets continue to expose and call out the NBA's media. It's certainly nothing new, this idea that nobody really pays attention to the Nuggets and as a result nobody put stock into what they were doing. Why do that when big market and big name stars are also involved, even if their teams weren't as good?

We saw it happen time and time again in their series against the Lakers. 

Michael Malone was right at the time and he's been proven even more right as time has gone on. Even after they won the series and advanced to the NBA Finals, what was the talk? LeBron's retirement. We had Windy go on TV and say it was the most impressive sweep he ever witnessed, and not by the Nuggets, but by the Lakers! 

Chuck said it best the other night

It's crazy a team that had been rather dominant all year, was the #1 seed in their conference, and has the 2x MVP was able to play the "nobody believes in us" card, but it was legit! Nobody really did believe in them, and even after they accomplished what nobody thought they could do, the conversation was STILL about everyone else?

You turn on the TV today and what do we see? Kyrie free agency stories. It really is bizarre.

This of course went up a few levels after these comments from Chris Mannix

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Just an insane stance in my opinion. Honestly, this 

"The Nuggets aren't compelling"

narrative feels almost identical to all the bullshit narratives we had to hear during the year as to why Nikola Jokic couldn't be the MVP. It's as if instead of people admitting they simply don't watch the Nuggets, they instead try and create this narrative that doesn't exist. The Nuggets are compelling if you actually pay attention to them. Choosing not to does not mean they are not compelling, it means you didn't give enough of a shit to actually tune in. 

The same way anyone who watched Jokic play knew he was the best player in the league last year. Instead, think of how toxic and not basketball related the narrative was surrounding that MVP race when it came to Jokic? It was bizarre then and has only been proven to be even more ridiculous based on what Jokic has done to get to the Finals.

How can anyone look at a team making the first Finals in their franchise history and say they are not compelling? And the reasoning is in part because Jokic doesn't do commercials? What are we even doing?

The entire process of how the Nuggets got here in the first place is compelling. Their best player going from a 2nd round pick to literally the most dominant player on the planet is VERY compelling. Jamal Murray developing and coming back from his ACL injury and playing better than he ever has before is compelling. MPJ and Aaron Gordon finding their perfect roles and flourishing is compelling. The way the Nuggets play is compelling. Michael Malone's story is compelling. 

What logical explanation is there to suggest they aren't interesting? Because they don't play in LA? Because their best player cares about the one thing that actually matters? Nobody says this stuff about someone like Giannis who also has that basketball only mentality for the most part. So what gives? It all just seems like such a cop-out when we hear stuff like this.

Now I don't think this is entirely the media's fault. This is mostly an NBA problem as a whole. The Nuggets only had 16 nationally televised games this season. That feels a little light for a team with the 2x MVP does it not? For comparison, the Grizzlies had 18, the Clippers 20, Mavs 21, Suns 22, Bucks 23, Sixers 23, Celtics 25, Lakers 27, and Warriors 30. So, the league is pretty complicit in this as well.

But just like with the MVP, this entire ordeal feels way more like NBA media guys, talking heads etc are way too embarrassed to suggest that they were wrong about the Nuggets and simply didn't watch them, so they deflect and try and call them boring or not worthy of the attention and discussion that they have rightfully earned. It's really weird. Isn't it their job to make these teams compelling? Find angles that the average fan might not know about? 

Instead, they would rather suggest that one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen and might ever see and a team that is having a dream season is boring. So bizarre.