Who Makes Your All-Time Nuggets Squad? Labor Day Memories

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. This is Jake from Lockdown. When the game is on the line, the best no end to pass. Because the right assist can change everything. And off the court, it's no different. That's where your State Farm agent comes in. Whether it's protecting your car, your home, or helping you prep for the unexpected, they'll help set you up with a game plan that works for you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Like a word, the cover options are selected by the customer, availability and eligibility vary by state. Thank you for making Lockdown your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the Lockdown NBA Podcast where there's no off season. West Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Lockdown NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

1:02What's going on family? I hope you are having a great Labor Day. Now, whether you might be at a cookout, whether you might be enjoying yourself and some water, I hope you got a hot dog or if you're vegan, you found some other option for you with a barbecue corn. Now my favorite Mac and cheese, whatever you might be doing on this Labor Day, maybe you're resting some of you like me. You might be at work. I hope you're enjoying your day and I figured we could do something fun today. If we talk about a lot of stuff concerning the Denver Nuggets, but y'all, I want to talk about all time Nuggets quads. What was the moment for you for everything's lit if by yourself and you became a Denver Nuggets fan? I cannot wait to get into this y'all. This is Swiper and this is Lockdown Nuggets. You are locked on Nuggets. You are daily Denver Nuggets podcast. Part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day.

2:06What's going on y'all? Welcome to Lockdown Nuggets. This is your daily Denver Nuggets podcast. I'm your host Swiper. Thank y'all so much for joining us on this Labor Day for a little fun episode of Lockdown Nuggets. If you talk about your all time Nuggets quad, y'all today's episode is brought to you by Square. Right now you can get up to $200 off Square Hardware at square.com slash go slash NBA. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today. So y'all, I was ideating the show titles today and you know what is it that we haven't really got a chance to get into? But you know there are some things that have happened recently, you know as some of the stuff that I've been doing where I was like man, reminiscing on some really big moments for me in my Nuggets fandom. As a lot of y'all know, I grew up in Park Hill, Denver, Colorado. I grew up going to high a lot of Davis Rec Center, more than the King Rec Center, my entire life. Those are the places that I spent most of my time playing basketball, watching basketball.

3:08And I remember in 2003, the Denver Nuggets, they drafted Carmelo Anthony and a lot of y'all might not know this, but Carmelo Anthony, Choncy Phillips later on, bond wafer when he came into down. And actually, I was his brother. They used to come through at a high a lot of Davis and play in the program. So I used to see them up close and in person. I played against Choncy Phillips in the program. I mean, this must have been like 2007, maybe around that point in time where I got a chance to guard Choncy when he was still playing in the NBA. I just remember like the Nuggets used to make it a point to come to Park Hill, to come in who, and that really solidified a lot of stuff from me, especially growing up. You know, Choncy from Park Hill, everybody calls it the King of Park Park Hill. He came to Denver after he won the NBA title. He brought the finals MVP with him. And I remember he had a, I think it was a Denver jersey on or whatever it was. And he was walking through the Rec Center. He had the trophy on him.

4:09And it was just such a big moment for the city and for the community because a lot of people obviously just had not been that close to a trophy of that magnitude before, but also just somebody who had accomplished something to the degree that he had. So Choncy obviously is very well loved, but I want to make my first pick for an all-time nugget. Now, I was going to make the easy pick, but I'm not going to do that to start. I'm going to start off maybe in some childhood, a little bit. I'm going to start off for Carmelo Anthony. So what we're going to do, we're going to play a little game. We're going to build our all-time nugget starting five. Now the positions, they don't have to match exactly, but we're just going to put together who is your list of the all-time nuggets for you when you think about this team and just what they were. And for me, Carmelo Anthony is easily making this list. Now I loved Carmelo. I'm talking about loved Carmelo Anthony when he was playing for the Denver Nuggets.

5:14When Mellow first got drafted, y'all, I watched so many of his games on television when he was playing at Syracuse. I just figured there was just no way that Mellow would ever end up in Denver. As you all remember, the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 2003 trap, they had the number one overall pick. And in 2003, the Detroit Piston via trade, I believe, they had the second overall pick and then the Denver Nuggets had the third. And so this whole time, I'm 12 years old, I just remember watching and I'm like, there's just no way that Mellow's going to fault us. Because if you remember, Carmelo Anthony as Syracuse was the man. I'm talking about crazy. He was the player of the year. He went through, dominated the NCAA tournament. He had 22 points, 10 rebounds, two assists over the course of that run. And when he got to the NCAA tournament, like he took down all the big dogs and was outplaying

6:19everybody. So Mellow is easily going to make my list. And while Mellow was in Denver, he played 564 games in Denver from 2003 to 2011 where he played 50 games. Mellow played 82 games, 75 games, 80 games, 65, 77, 66, 69 and then 50. Mellow took us to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. And Mellow obviously is a rookie. They went from 17 wins to over 40 wins in one year. Now they had the team got way better. You know, they added like Kenyan and all these other folks like the team got better. But Mellow was the best player on the team. He had two points, two assists, two rebounds, two point eight assists. This is a rookie. Just think about Mellow now. If Mellow played today, today, what he would have did walking into the league. So my first overall pick is going to be Carmelo Anthony. 25 points in game in Denver in 564 games, six rebounds and three assists. And if you just remember like Carmelo Anthony, a lot of people are disconnected from the

7:25Nuggets weren't going to the playoffs at all. Like they had some really good players and they had a lot of opportunity to, you know, be competitive here and there. But like the Nuggets were a bad team. Like the Nuggets just to give you some context in 2002, three, they won 17 games. You're before that 27. You're before that 40, 35, 14, 11, 21, 35, 41, 40. 42, 36, 24, 20. So this is through 1990. Up to this point, the Nuggets had like Nick Van Exel and Tonyo McDice, Robert Pack. They obviously had to give me Matambo, but they just were not one of those teams that like they just couldn't get over the hump for several different reasons. They just didn't have the squads. They didn't have the players. I mean, they bought, don't get me wrong. They definitely gave it their all, but the teams just weren't talented enough.

8:29Like even just looking through the 1999 2000s roster. So Rick Abdul Wahad, he played on this roster, Corialexander. This is Chauncey in year two out of Colorado. Ryan Bowen, I know a lot of y'all remember him. Ryan Bowen played on this roster as well at that point in time. Keon Clark, Chris Heron, Papa Jones, shout out to Papa Ray LaFrance played on this team, we all remember LaFrance, man. Just don't give me started on that draft. And Tonyo McDice was on this team, shout out to Jane Poezy, who was a rookie in this season. I really liked him at that point in time. And then we had Nick Van Exel, who was in year six. So like those of us that were around, we remember these names and they tried. They won 35 games that season, but they just were ever super competitive. You know, like it just is what it is, right? They just didn't have the best of the best in order to be able to compete on the night and night out basis. But one car mellow Anthony got to this squad. He really just took them to the next level. And mellow wasn't great.

9:31Mellow played 45 playoff games in Denver. Now he played four games, five games, five games and four games. Mellow only made it out of the first round once in Denver. The Nuggets lost literally in the first round, one, two, three, four, five straight years. But again, the Nuggets also did not have a wealth of talent around them at the same time. But mellow then once he got with Chauncey and the rest of the squad and they just were able to take like that crazy leap into playoffs that 2008, 2009 season mellow in the first round that year versus the New Orleans Hornets, remember that was when they won by 58 points. I think that number was 121 to 63. During that game, he had 26.7 rebounds or seven assists and six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. And then he averaged 24, six and five versus the Hornets that year. Remember, they played Dirk and they beat Dirk and him four and one.

10:34And this might be mellows all around best series of all time. Maybe Carmelo Anthony in that series versus the Mavericks average 30 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals. But he shot 49% from the field, 44% from three on just five attempts for game but still good. 85% from the free to line and he was a plus eight when they're on the floor with them. So mellow went crazy. And then the Lakers series happened in Lake history, they averaged 27.5, five rebounds, three assists, three and a half assists. He only shot 41% from the field but then you know, they just had a lot of issues, didn't end up doing it. So I'm going to go to my first pick off the board and we're going to get to the others on this list because there's a lot of players. I think that could be competing for your all time five. So in the chat, during the show and after the show, build your own squad of five that you would put on this team. We'll come back and we'll do our second pick and our third pick and the second segment here.

11:35A lot of undugets. Support for today's episode comes from square. System powering so many of the places we already know and love, whether you're running a pack game day spot, a local restaurant or growing a business, square gives sellers to tools to run their business without making things more complicated. Now square brings payments, inventory, payroll, invoices, customer insights and more together in one connected system. So whether you're a one location business or growing into multiple locations, square gives you the tools to sell, manage and grow without needing an IT team to figure it out. Now, when you're running a business, the last thing you need is a bunch of different systems that don't communicate with each other. Square brings things like payments, inventory, staff managing and more together so you can spend less time managing the tools and more time running the business. If you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, square helps you sell, manage and grow without slowing down.

12:36Right now, you can get up to $200 off square hardware at square.com slash go slash NBA. RUN YOUR BUSINESS SMARTER WITH SQUARE. Get started today. We'll be back for more here. I locked on nuggets. What's going on? We are back for segment two here at Lockdown. I'm not going to shout out to you all. Thank you all so much for joining us each and every day. If you're watching this, go ahead and give us a like, share and subscribe on the YouTube side. This channel is on the way to 15,000 subscribers. If you're listening to this on Apple Live, you can just Spotify. Go ahead and give us a five star review that way more and more people can listen to the great content being made here at Lockdown. Nuggets. So, Cormelomacity was my number one pick off the board for all time great Denver Nuggets. Coming up next, this is tough.

13:36My number two pick for all time great nuggets is going to be the one and the only, David Thompson. David Thompson, y'all, was everything to Denver. Everything. David Thompson Skywalker is one of the only people that Michael Jordan said he idolized growing up. David Thompson, when he was in Denver, averaged 24 points per game, four rebounds, three assists and he was shooting 51% from two. Like, I don't think people, if you weren't around, which I also wasn't. So this is like post watching and also storytelling from like a lot of the OGs, you know, growing up and all that kind of stuff and everything that like was surrounding David Thompson. Like I don't think people realize this. David Thompson played his entire career at North Carolina State when there was a nation wide ban on donkey.

14:37So Karim Abdul Jabbar had made a rule. Basically, he was so good. There was a rule in place in college basketball for 10 years where they were not allowed to dunk. So David Thompson reportedly had a 44 inch vertical and he would have to lay a ball up instead of dunking. And so a lot of this is they basically turned David into an alley out player by they would just throw the ball to David when he was running towards the basket and then he would just literally grab the ball and he would just push the ball in through the basket. Like just crazy. So he was like already in all time great like mystery player for Denver. So David eventually gets drafted number one overall, but then he ends up obviously with Denver. And when David played with Denver man, like he really put Denver on the map, especially in the era that we were playing in, we're you know, in the 70s and the 80s, everything was about pace and running up and down the floor.

15:39And he had a lot of really, really big moments in Denver, played some of the obviously his best basketball. David went to the playoffs in Denver on three separate or four separate occasions rather. Remember, there was the ABA season that he went to the playoffs and then he went to the playoffs three other times with the Denver Nuggets. But look, in those runs, he had 26 points of game in the ABA, 24.7 points per game. In the NBA in the first year in the NBA in 76 and then 25 points per game in 77, 78 and then 28 points per game in just three games in 78, 79. And then obviously they had a skip and then the average 11 and 12. So like there were six different years, but David was just like a living legend in Denver and still is and he gets a lot of respect for what he is. So just because of that alone, Carmelo Anthony and David Thompson are going to make my list for all time great nuggets. Now my third pick, third pick, y'all for my all time nugget squad.

16:43Let's see if we can get this. Third pick for the all time nugget squad. I am going to choose none other than your mom, Murray. Now I realize that for some people, we are the fours and Chancy billets, but Chancy only played in Denver for but a few years. Jamal Murray is the best point guard that's ever played for the Denver Nuggets. Now Alan Iverishin played for Denver. Chancy played for Denver. Chancy was a better defender and all this other stuff, but it is it's Jamal. Jamal brought this team a title. Like he is going to go down as one of the greatest nuggets players of all time. He's played 611 games with the nugget. He played more games with the nuggets than Carmelo Anthony has as of this last season. He averaging 19 points of game in his career, five assists, four rebounds, shooting 39% from three, 46% from the field, 87% from the free throw line.

17:45And then on top of that, he's to nuggets first all in be a guard that they've had in little decades, literally decades. So the fact that Denver just got two all in be a players on one team and now they're in a situation where Jamal Murray has made this ascension to where he is. And again, y'all over the last five seasons now, not including the ACL year that he missed. He's averaging 22 points for game. He's averaging six assists, four rebounds, and he's shooting 41% from three over that stretch and 51% from two. He's an all time great nugget. And obviously he has the all time great guard playoff run for Denver and that playoff run in 2022, 23 he has 26 points of game, seven assists, six rebounds, and he shot 39.6% from three on seven and a half attempts of game, which is bonkers. And then he shot 51.7% from two versus those really good defenses and 96, 92.6% from the free throw line.

18:46And by the way, in terms of players to average 26 points for more five rebounds, I think is five rebounds and five assists and shoot above 90% from the free throw line and 39% from three over the course of an entire playoff run is Jamal Murray, Steph Curry and Larry Bird. That's how good he was on that run. And then obviously the bubble run he averaged 26.5 points for game, 6.6 assists. And then that run shot 45% from three on seven and a half attempts of game, which is just ridiculous. And then 54% from two. So Murray has definitely had some ups and downs, but in terms of all time, great. Jamal Murray, my point guard, David Thompson is listed as my shooting guard. And I got Carmelo Anthony listed out of my small forward. And I think all three of those players are well deserved at that spot. You know, when I was thinking about this list, the only other players that were in contention for me at the point guard spot was going to be Chancé Billups. And Chancé Billups obviously deserves a great shout here because he did a lot of really

19:47important things in Denver. Beyond the history of just, you know, being from Denver and all the stuff that he did, he helped this team to get to an NBA Western conference appearance for the Denver Nuggets. Like that's just not a small feat. You know, Chancé obviously had a lot of different things that he did without the throughout his time here in the community. And Mr. Big Shot was called Mr. Big Shot for a reason. He was genuinely like a truly like great player. And he did a lot of stuff for this team on a night and night out basis. And while he was here, he was a high level score, really good free throw shooter, really good passer, really good defender. And he was shooting 40% from three in Denver, by the way, in 2006, 2007, which is just incredible. Like he's truly an all time great moment player for Denver. I just think that you have to give that to, well, you have to give it to Jamal just even on the basis of game played. Like I think Chancé played like 150 games in Denver, essentially, just not a lot.

20:51Also, for me personally, I thought about JR Smith like at that two spot, KCP deserves a shout there as well. I think KCP did a lot of really important things here. Robert Pact obviously gives a very well, well deserved shout out in that spot as well. But I got to go with Jamal Murray. I got to go David Thompson and then I got to go with Carmelo Anthony on the other side, y'all, power forward is tough. And then we got to get to center because center, look, I'll have to add a six man in there because center, I think there's two people that deserve it by a lot that are going to be on this list. So we'll talk about all that and more here. Yeah, locked on nuggets. Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandole. How rewarding are we talking more rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring more rewarding than an 18 point comeback, maybe even more rewarding than an old line catching a touchdown.

21:52This season, Bandagal is making the assignment go beyond what happens on the field with all new Bandole reward clubs featuring surprises and more. This season, Fando is making the excitement to go beyond what happens on the field that is the all new Bandole rewards club featuring exclusive offers, surprises and more. Every week, check the Bando app to see what's waiting for you. Now, I cannot wait. Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, Wednesday, night, 820pm Eastern Standard Time, we have the Seattle Seahawks versus the New England Patriots in a super bowl rematch. And then on Thursday, we got the LA ran versus the San Francisco 49ers in a spectacular game. I cannot wait to tap in with Fandole, y'all, because the NFL season is officially here. Make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandole, visit Fandole.com to get started.

22:56We'll be back for more here. I'd like to unknuck it. Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, y'all, the NFL season is back. I cannot wait. Shout out to y'all. Welcome back to Lockdown, Nuggets Man. This is one of the best times in the year. We're getting right. We're getting, we're about a six weeks away from the start of the NBA season. About six weeks away from the start of the NBA season. And the NFL season starts this week. Wow, I cannot wait, y'all. I have a feeling, y'all. I'm just going to finish the cast of our lives. I can't wait to get to it. All right, y'all, power forward. So, let me tell y'all the names that came across my leisure here. Okay? Because this is, like, this is so hard to get through. Dennisel deserves an incredible shout here, y'all.

23:57He is a multi-time all-star. And with Denver was a terrific basketball player, a terrific basketball player with the Denver Nuggets. He is one of the most versatile four or fives that we've ever had in this building. He truly had an impact on Denver, far and away. He was a very good score for Denver. Obviously, a terrific rebounder. He did a lot of things for us defensively. Dennisel deserves crazy shouts right here. But on top of that, Antonio McDice deserves a shout here. Because if you don't remember Antonio McDice, Antonio McDice was our lone all-star, essentially, for a number of seasons. He really was. Antonio was a player that did a lot of different things. He was an all-in-bj player with Denver, got 13 all-in-bj in 1998. In 1998, 1999, he was an all-star in Denver at the Power 4 Spot in 2001.

24:59Like, it did eventually, they traded him to New York and then he goes to Detroit. But Antonio McDice is a very, very, very, very, very good player in Denver Nuggets history. I also want to give a shout out to Bobby Jones, Secretary of Defense, Bobby Jones, he spent an early part of his career in Denver. In Denver, he was all defense first team for different times. He's probably the best defender that we've ever had that's played for the organization, as well. Paul Millsap, Cody, Mimi Truett, Paul Millsap deserves a shout here. Revolutionized Denver in 2017-18. And then you got, y'all, like, Kenyan Martin. We've had a lot of really good fours here. You got Kenneth Fareed, did a lot of great things here. Kenyan Martin was special in Denver. And until we traded him later on, Kenyan in Denver played 371 games, 12 points of game, seven rebounds. What's an incredible switch defender, as well?

25:59Incredible switch defender. And he's going to be loved on television when I see him today. He is loved in Denver. Y'all. And then you got Aaron Gordon. Aaron Gordon has been in Denver since March 25th of 2021. He's been in Denver for five seasons. He has played 303 games, 15 points of game, six rebounds. He's also averaging three assists over that stretch. He's shooting 36% from three, 54% from the field, 61% from two. We remember the moment where Aaron Gordon first started playing with Yokish. And AG immediately transformed this team from a good two-way team to a really good one, to a really good offense, to an elite all-time great offense. But when I have to put this list together, I want to say Bobby Jones is the best player that's ever played for this organization.

27:02But I feel like I have to pair Aaron Gordon with Nikolay Yokish. Because those two, as well with Jamal Murray, they're going to define the championship era. They're going to define winning for Denver. There's no separation, none, between Yokish, Murray, and Gordon, and winning with the Denver Nuggets. There's just none. They're all too important for what this team is accomplished. Bobby Jones, I would say, is the best, but if I'm building my all-time squad, Jamal, David Thompson, Carmelo Anthony, and Aaron Gordon are my first four, then obviously, Nikolay Yokish who completely changed the life of everybody that's ever played, and work for and will work for the Denver Nuggets. The three-time MVP, the greatest player in the world, the most impactful player in the sport, in his career as a Nugget in 810-game. Yokish is averaging 22 points a game, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists, 36% from three, and he's shooting 59.8% effective field-grorber percentage. And it's already one of the all-time greats in everything you can imagine.

28:05I think he's one of the best 10 players that's ever played. He is a three-time MVP, six straight years, depending on at least top two in MVP, back-to-back years of a triple-double. The greatest wire-to-wire offensive season we've maybe have ever seen in NBA history in 2023. And then I think should have won MVP in 2024, 25, 29.6 points for game, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists, two steals a game. The only player ever to finish top three in points for game, rebounds for game, assists for game, and steals for game. The only player ever to do it. End of show-kitch. All-time great player literally cannot say enough about him, but I gotta give a shout out to all the players that made this list. But I also think that for the sake of this list, as a sixth man, I have to add to give him a more time. De Kimbe won the DPOI with the Denver Nuggets, but y'all, like De Kimbe was, he was like the first great big of the modern era we have,

29:11and he gave everybody so many issues. And the most iconic moment in Denver Nuggets history, a shout out to Alice English, did not make my list, did not make y'all NBA 75, but absolutely deserves to be on that team. De Kimbe Mutumbo has the most iconic moment in the history of the Nuggets prior to the title. When they beat the Super Sonsics, and De Kimbe in that series was a world-changer, world-changer, when they won that series, that changed how people saw Denver. In that series, De Kimbe Mutumbo in 1994, every 13-point to game, 12 remounts, two assists, but in that series, he averaged six, six blocks a game, six. In that Seattle series, he averaged six blocks a game.

30:13That's incredible. He has 31 blocks in five games in that series, and 61 remounts, and 14 offensive rebounds. One of one defensive rebounding impact in De Kimbe Mutumbo, God rest his soul. No one will ever forget what he meant to this city, and what he means to this city still. So for me, including six men, my all-time Nuggets squad, Jamal Murray, David Thompson, Carmelo Anthony, Aaron Gordon, Negola Yokech, and De Kimbe Mutumbo. Chat, let me know what you think. Who is your all-time Nuggets squad, including the six men? Who would you leave off and why, and why would you put the players on your squad that you have? Y'all know what time it is. This is Swipea. This is Locked Out Nuggets. See you on the other side. This is Jake from Locked Out.

31:14When the game's on the line, the best no end to pass. Because the right assist can change everything. And off the court, it's no different. That's where your State Farm agent comes in. Whether it's protecting your car, your home, or helping you prep for the unexpected, they'll help set you up with a game plan that works for you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Covered options are selected by the customer, availability and eligibility vary by state. The Locked Out podcast network is brought to you by Fandall. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a home or today, Fandall is giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnix. Best of all, you can make a free pick every day throughout the MLBCs. So are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action at fandall.com. That's fandall.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a home. Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandall, an official partner of the MLB. Thank you for making Locked On Your First Listen Every Day. For your second Listen, find the Locked On NBA Podcast where there's no offseason.

32:16West Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Locked On NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day.