Michael Porter Jr.
Nikola Jokic turned left out of the Nuggets’ home locker room and eased his way through a hallway en route to the players’ parking lot.
The Nuggets had just dropped Game 2 of the NBA Finals. As it turned out, that would be their only loss of the series.
Jokic walked at a toddler’s pace, patiently holding onto his young daughter Ognjena’s hand. Before he left, he stopped to chat with Heat forward Kevin Love, only slightly delaying his daughter’s bedtime.
Three wins later and a championship secure, Ognjena seized the spotlight from her famous father. On the championship stage, she seemed indifferent to the chaos around her. Her biggest fascination came from the confetti and not the shiny Finals MVP trophy her dad had just won. Jokic doted and kissed her, vaulting her high above any championship won or award accrued.
Jokic’s journey as a father has just begun, but his investment in his 1-yearold daughter’s well-being is obvious. In that way, he’s following the lead of the many fathers whose imprint on the Nuggets is undeniable. Denver’s roster is littered with examples of strong dads whose influence trickled into the locker room, one way or another. Without their guiding force, it’s unlikely the Nuggets ever would’ve been guzzling champagne and puffing cigars Monday night. In several instances, those fathers were even in on the euphoric celebration.
When Jokic said there are things more important than basketball, there’s zero doubt he meant it. His responsibilities as a dad and husband, in his mind, are far more important than anything he’ll ever do for the Nuggets’ franchise, despite their newfound heights.
Amid the championship afterglow, Jokic’s wife, Natalija, was trying to corral Ognjena, who was scurrying down a hallway.
“He’s really amazing,” she said, before the emotion of the moment started to overcome her.
“I could cry right now,” she said.
At least four times during his postgame news conference, Michael Porter Jr. busted into his trademark smile.
He made fun of his jump shot, which betrayed him throughout the Finals. He laughed at the money Bruce Brown could command in free agency. He smiled as an NBA official tried to remove a jumbo sized bottle of Moet from the camera frame.
“Hey man, you can leave that there,” Porter beamed.
Porter described his jumper as “broke” and a problem he’d fix in the offseason. But the reason he couldn’t stop grinning after helping the Nuggets win their first-ever championship?
“I’m not even supposed to be here, to be honest with you,” Porter said. “After everything I’ve been through, I’m not really supposed to be a world champion.”
Throughout Porter’s turbulent career, he’s always enjoyed endless support from his family. And it was no different on Monday night inside Ball Arena. There they were, Porter’s parents and siblings, in the postgame locker room, celebrating and embracing their own.
“I’m just so proud of him, man,” Porter’s father said. “He hit adversity early on in his career, and he had adversity in this series. To have the confidence to keep playing, doing what he can do to help the team, I’m proud of him. I’m so glad for this team.”
Despite the three back surgeries, including one that robbed him of a majority of last season, Porter’s father remained confident that a day like Monday would come.
“I don’t know anybody that works as hard as him,” he said.
The elder Porter, himself a coach, allowed that his son might take one day off to bask in what he and his teammates had just accomplished. But there’d be no such extended break. Porter’s said numerous times he was looking forward to the offseason since he’d finally have a healthy summer to improve his game.