The Denver Nuggets have won the 2023 NBA championship. Nikola Jokic and Co. defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the 2023 Finals to win their first title in franchise history.
Jokic was named Finals MVP after averaging 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists while shooting 58.3% from the field, 42.1% from beyond the arc and 83.8% from the free-throw line. The two-time MVP has now cemented himself as one of the greatest players in NBA history.
“The job is done and we can go home now,” Jokic said of winning an NBA title.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has been very passionate during the 2023 playoffs about how his team doesn’t get the coverage and credit it deserves. Now that Denver is atop the basketball world, Malone can rest easy.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Miami Heat Updates
“Pat Riley said something many years ago,” Malone said. “I used to have it up on my board when I was a head coach in Sacramento, and I talked about the evolution in this game and how you go from a nobody to an upstart, and you go from an upstart to a winner, and a winner to a contender, and a contender to a champion, and the last step after a champion is to be a dynasty.
“So we’re not satisfied. We accomplished something this franchise has never done before, but we have a lot of young talented players in that locker room, and I think we just showed through 16 playoff wins what we’re capable of on the biggest stage in the world.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Miami Heat Updates
Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray was very emotional after Game 5 since he missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL. The Kentucky product completed his comeback season in grand fashion.
“I knew once we were healthy, we could do it,” Murray told ESPN. “So this was long overdue. I think this is the first of many.”
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