Bad Boy Nugs

Watching the Nuggets/Hornets game last night, I got the impression that somehow the Nuggets are the 'bad guys,' or, at least that they are underrepresented as the good guys that they are/should be. Perhaps this is inevitable when pitted against NBA darling Chris Paul (sorry to be hating on him so hard recently) and the fact that they (the Nuggets) might as well employ a team tattoo artist, but I'm feeling that the NBA and its associated TV networks are really missing a lot of somewhat-cliche'd, television-perfect story lines here.

Do I even need to list them:

1) Nene coming back from nut cancer to play the best basketball of his career. You'd think national television (especially ABC) would be all over this, but there hasn't really been much acknowledgement of Nene's comeback while that bicycle guy made a whole career out of it. Nene should be getting magazine covers, halftime profiles with hospital montages, and spots on Oprah. Maybe people find him alienating because he only has one name...now he only has one ball.

2) Chauncey coming home and putting Denver in a position to actually win a playoff series. I don't think those MVP chants are unwarranted.

2.a) The implementation of a true "team" in Denver with Carmelo effectively harnessing his Carmelo-ness and settling into what I guess I'll call a role. This is as much due to AI leaving as Chauncey coming, I think. Also, Carmelo cut his hair.

3) The Birdman. I realize he's the NBA version of Biff Tannen and that he's got a growing fanbase among the 'ironic' and even the 'post-ironic' NBA fans, but from everything I've read about this guy, he's a straight-up quote machine. He needs more off-the-court camera time, maybe even a reality show. Also, he's pulling a reverse Shawn Kemp while, somehow, becoming more bad-ass.


With all this overcoming-adversity/changing-the-culture/what-have-you, you'd think that the 08-09 Denver Nuggets would be the feel good story of the year, but no, not against CP3 and the tattoo-less, still post-Katrina Hornets.

I think there's a lingering AI cancer effect going on, especially considering the attention paid to the league by its most casual fans. (I wore an old Charlotte Hornets shirt to the laundromat the other day and the owner asked me how they were doing, oblivious of the move to New Orleans.)

That said, relish the bad boy Nugs because it's fun to imagine J.R. Smith playing basketball in 3-D glasses.