Michael Porter Jr. Believes the Nuggets Didn’t Do Their Championship Celebration Right in 2023

The 2022-23 NBA season was a historic year for the Denver Nuggets. After multiple years of coming up short in the postseason, they finally got over the hump to win the championship. That marked the first time in franchise history that they’d won a title. Typically, that would cause a great celebration. In hindsight, former Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. doesn’t believe they capitalized on the opportunity.

After years of injuries to key players like Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets finally had a healthy postseason run. It’s no wonder the franchise saw its first NBA Finals appearance. The team waiting for them was the Miami Heat, who defied all odds as an eighth seed.

Although Miami’s Finals run was a great story, they simply were no match for the Denver Nuggets. It only took five games for the Nuggets to take care of business. They were crowned NBA champions on their home court. The true celebration didn’t take place during the Larry O’Brien trophy presentation, but in the locker room.

“We turned up in the locker room for probably 3 to 4 hours after the game,” Porter Jr. said on the Glory Daze podcast. “I’m talking our locker room turned into a club. The smell of cigars and liquor in that locker room pretty much lasted the entire next season.”

Typically, teams fly out to Las Vegas as soon as possible to continue the championship celebrations. Instead, the Nuggets stayed close to Denver rather than flying out immediately.

“Then, we took it to [Aaron Gordon’s] crib. He built a warehouse that’s like a lounge/club, and everybody went there, and we just had a good time all night,” Porter Jr. said.

If MPJ could go back in time, he would do things a bit differently. Although he enjoyed his time at Aaron Gordon’s place, Las Vegas should’ve taken priority.

“We didn’t end up going to Vegas to celebrate until 3 days later. So there was this weird two-day gap where we were just sitting at home after we won the championship,” Porter Jr. revealed.

The Nuggets held their championship parade, which brought back the high energy. MPJ and the rest of the team began to feel like champions once again after celebrating with their fans.

Afterward, they made their way to Vegas, where they concluded their championship celebrations. MPJ will be better equipped next time around because of that learning experience. Since he is now a member of the Brooklyn Nets, however, it may take time before he is back to competing on the basketball’s biggest stage.