The Fan-hise

 There was a lot of talk about the Denver Nuggets "finally" winning an NBA championship. They did this last Monday by beating the Miami Heat, who had already earned three since joining the leage in 1988. Denver's basketball franchise used to be called The Rockets, and when they were an ABA team, they won two championships. They played in the last ABA championship series in 1976, falling to the New York Nets before making the big leap into the National Basketball Association. By that time, they had changed their mascot to the Nugget, because there was already a Rocket team in the NBA. From that era, A briefly cherished childhood toy was my miniature Denver Rockets basketball, with the hokey old logo. 

It would be some time before I got any Denver Nuggets swag. Basketball wasn't the focus of my youth sportsmania. My attention was taken up with the fits and starts of the also-ran Denver football Broncos and the University of Colorado football buffaloes. This was instead of paying mind to the also-ran Denver basketball Nuggets. A vivid memory from my twenties found a friend of mine and I, after dropping my old roommate off at the airport, stopping by McNichols arena on the way back to Boulder. It just so happened that the Nuggets were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers that night and there were plenty of tickets remaining. 

When I say that there were plenty of tickets, I mean that the place was so empty that we could hear Dan "The Horse" Issel huffing and puffing his way down the court. From the upper deck. It would take LeBron James and about twenty more years before the Cavs won their only title, so it was more an exercise in patience for all of us who might have called ourselves "fans." 

Around this same time, my older brother and I were given tickets for a game, this time during a surge in the team's popularity. We were part of a much lareger and more raucous crowd, cheering on a newer and revitalized Nuggets team, including the all-time franchise leader in blocked shots, Wayne Cooper. We enjoyed our seats, the game, many beers and the Hawaiian print souvenir baseball caps we acquired. After the final buzzer, we found our way down to the floor where we were able to corner Mister Cooper and get him to sign the underside of the bills of our caps. This was a bonding moment not just for my brother and I, but with the franchise as well. 

Once I moved to the left side of the country, my basketball focus was easily moved to the Golden State Warriors. For a while there, they made winning championships easy. Of course it was also the Warriors who managed to blow a three games to one lead and allow Cleveland to finally win a major sports championship in 2016.

Leaving the Denver Nuggets to carry around that albatross of no NBA championships all by themselves. Until this past Monday. The stars aligned and the talent combined and there was joy in the Mile High City for basketball. At last. 

Just after the game was over, before they passed around the trophy, my phone buzzed. My older brother texted me. Two words: Wayne Cooper. What a long, strange trip it's been.