(Denver) Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets was on a fire truck with teammate Jamal Murray, his family and the NBA Champions Trophy.
His daughter Ognjena stole the show, sitting in front of her father in the front of the truck and occasionally wearing the latter’s champions cap.
Rookie Christian Braun threw his jersey into the crowd, as veteran DeAndre Jordan mingled with the fans and clapped their hands.
Murray signed a canvas of himself and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played reporter, interviewing teammate Aaron Gordon.
PHOTO DAVID ZALUBOWSKI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The city of Denver estimated the crowd at 750,000 people.
The festivities took a long time to materialize and there was a huge following. In the evening, the city of Denver said on Twitter that it estimated the crowd at 750,000 people.
It took 47 seasons in the NBA for the Nuggets to finally lift the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Near the end of the parade, an officer was hit by a fire truck and suffered a serious leg injury, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said at a press conference. The person was in critical but stable condition.
Later that day and after the parade, two people were shot and injured downtown.
PHOTO ISAIAH J. DOWNING, USA TODAY SPORTS
Police did not believe the incident was related to the parade, but rather a drug deal gone wrong.
The Nuggets triumphed in five games against Miami. They finished the playoffs with a 16-4 record, tying the second-best record for the champions since 2003, when the league adopted a four-of-seven format for the first round.
The Spurs also went 16-4 in 2007, while the Warriors went a near perfect 16-1 in 2017.
Jokic will soon return home to spend time with his family and pursue his other passion, horse racing.
Denver celebrated a club championship in June for the second year in a row, after the Stanley Cup won by the Avalanche in 2022.