The matchup of the Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers is getting closer and both teams look to be hard at work. Both groups have specific goals to keep fighting for that ring, but it seems like Denver’s Aaron Gordon perhaps has the most ambitious one of the lot. Of course, when you are in the NBA, ambitions are what drive the players to grind harder.
The Nuggets’ last season win was a shock to many. Up until the last moment, that team wasn’t considered a contender. But behind Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, the franchise got its first-ever championship. Since then, Malone’s group has been under the limelight as a dangerous opponent for even the best of them. And Gordon’s words during the practice only serve to highlight the exact sentiment.
“We’re here to repeat. We’re here to go back-to-back. That’s our goal. We have no other goal other than that. 16 wins,” he said to the media during their practice tonight. In his 11th season now in the league, Gordon has been a defensive stalwart for the Nuggets ever since they got him from Orlando. Coming from a basketball family, the 6’8 Arizona product was forced to play a role he wasn’t suited for with the Magic and both of them suffered for it.
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But that didn’t stop Gordon from giving it his best, but his career never really took off in the seven years he was with Orlando. Yet, coming into Denver, the franchise had no idea that they just got exactly what they needed. A defensive-minded big man who was not hesitant in doing the dirty work for the team. He constantly matched up against the biggest opponents, not worried about anything else other than doing his job right.
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And the Nuggets were the better for it. Nothing says this more than the 2023 Game 4 Aaron Gordon.
The Denver Nuggets are better with Aaron Gordon in it
Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray were the heroes of the Nuggets, with Michael Porte Jr. right behind them. The pair of Jokic-Murray is a deadly duo no one wants to face at any time. But every team has those unsung heroes, the ones that don’t really show up on the big screen or whose numbers do not jump out at us. Yet, Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals saw Aaron Gordon write his own narrative.
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Gordon stepped up his game like no other when he went 11-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-4 from the three-point line, to get the team that much closer to their first championship in 47 years. He finished the night with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists. But it speaks volumes about the 28-year-old. Denver is a brilliant team, but they are even better with players like Aaron Gordon.
So, when Gordon says that the team’s here to repeat last year, then it must be taken as a fair warning. Because the Nuggets are a team with players that are as selfless as they are selfish. And every single one of them is ready to step up as and when needed.