The Nuggets brought home an NBA title and Jokić is a god in the Mile High City, but Avalanche fans swear hockey is Denver's real religion. Which franchise actually defines Denver's sports identity?
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Add your commentI took my dad to his first Nuggets game the night they clinched the championship in 2023. He's 71 years old and has been watching this team since the ABA days. He cried. I cried. The guy next to us cried. Don't tell me that franchise doesn't mean something deep to this city. Joker gave us something we waited half a century for.
Hot take that nobody wants to hear: it's the Broncos. Always has been. You guys are arguing about two franchises while literally every bar in Denver shuts down for a Sunday afternoon Broncos game. The Nuggets and Avs are both playing in an empty city compared to what a Super Bowl run does to this town.
Born and raised in Denver, lived here 43 years. I remember when the Avs came to town in '95 and the whole city lost its mind over hockey for the first time. That Stanley Cup run in 2001 still gives me chills. The Nuggets are great but Jokić has been here what, 9 years? The Avs have TWO Cup championships in Denver. Do the math.
The Nordiques comment above is technically correct but completely misses the point lol. The Avs have been Denver's team for nearly 30 years. By that logic the Lakers are still a Minnesota franchise. Every team has a relocation story. Denver claimed those boys and they delivered two championships. Respect.
To everyone saying hockey — genuine question, not trying to be rude — how many of you actually grew up playing hockey vs. grew up playing basketball? Denver is a western city. Pickup basketball at Washington Park, Cheesman Park, City Park. That's the culture. Hockey is incredible to watch but it's not woven into everyday life here the way hoops is.
Avalanche fans when the Nuggets win a title: "well hockey is still more popular in Colorado overall" Nuggets fans when the Avs win a Cup: *genuinely happy for them* Says everything honestly
okay so i grew up going to Pepsi Center games (yes i still call it that, fight me) and honestly the energy at an Avs playoff game is something the NBA literally cannot replicate. when MacKinnon is flying down the ice the whole building feels like its gonna lift off the ground. the nuggets are fun but its not the SAME
Jokić is literally the greatest player on the planet right now and he chose to embrace Denver completely, goes back to Serbia every summer, humble as they come, doesn't demand trades, doesn't whine. Do you understand how RARE that is in modern sports? The Nuggets have something generational and some of you are out here talking about hockey like its 2022. Wake up.
Can we please acknowledge that the Avalanche actually STARTED as the Quebec Nordiques before moving here? So technically Denver didn't even build that franchise from scratch. The Nuggets have been HERE, in DENVER, since 1967. That's roots. That's history. The Avs are great but let's not pretend they're some organic homegrown thing.
my grandpa used to take me to McNichols Arena to watch the Nuggets in the 80s. Dan Issel, Alex English, those guys. this franchise has been through SO much heartbreak for so long. the Avs showed up and won almost immediately. i love them both but the Nuggets championship hit different because of how long we suffered. thats not nothing.
Respectfully challenging the hockey crowd here: go look at Ball Arena on a random Tuesday night Nuggets game versus a random Tuesday night Avs game. Sell-out rates, atmosphere, local TV ratings. The numbers back the Nuggets and have for several years now. Feelings are fine but data doesn't lie. Denver has become a basketball city whether the old guard likes it or not.
I moved here from Chicago three years ago and I have to say — Nuggets fans are some of the most passionate but weirdly calm people I've ever watched sports with. Like they're confident in a way that's almost unsettling. Avs fans are more... theatrical? Both good crowds though. Denver is underrated as a sports city overall.
Neither. The real heartbeat of Denver sports died when they tore down old Mile High Stadium. Everything since has just been corporate entertainment packaged as civic pride. I know that's not what people want to hear but someone had to say it.
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