Boston has Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Memphis has Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. In Sacramento, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are. In Los Angeles, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are stars. If it sounds like that could lead to amusing inclusions and omissions, it does. If you’re wondering what constitutes a star, the NBA has that answered: any player who has been an All-Star or voted to an All-NBA team in the previous three seasons. In fact, healthy players resting a game are required to be present and visible to fans under the new guidelines. Stars cannot sit out only road games for load management the league will monitor for a balance between road and home games rested. Teams also must ensure that stars are available for in-season tournament games and games broadcast on national television. The headlining directive: Starting this season, teams cannot rest multiple healthy star players in the same game. Cornered by the increasing trend of ticket-selling players sitting out marquee regular-season games, the NBA overlooked the real cause of this issue (82 games) and instead imposed new watchdog policies that will increase workload and injury risk before the playoffs for many contenders. The PPP, approved by the board of governors Wednesday, is one of the most consequential developments of this offseason. That’s because, according to the Player Participation Policy’s arbitrary definition of a star player, the Nuggets have only one. While the NBA community clamors over the league’s new rules designed to regulate exploitation of load management, the one star-studded team spared of the headache for now is, ironically, the team that just won the championship. Go dip your feet in the pool a little while longer, Nikola Jokic. 8 seed to make it to the finals, insisted they weren't into consolation prizes.Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu The Heat, who survived a loss in the play-in tournament and became only the second No. Jimmy Butler (22) of the Miami Heat works against Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena in Denver on Monday, June 12, 2023.ĪAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images Until Butler went off, he was 2 for 13 for eight points. Bam Adebayo had 20 for the Heat, but Miami shot 34% from the floor and 25% from 3. The Heat were, as coach Erik Spoelstra promised, a gritty, tenacious bunch. "It was ugly and we couldn't make shots, but at the end we figured it out," Jokic said. Denver is the home of the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time in the franchise's 47 years in the league. This was an ugly, frenetic affair, but the aftermath was something the Nuggets and their fans could all agree was beautiful. Then, Bruce Brown got an offensive rebound and tip-in to give the Nuggets the lead for good. He made two more free throws with 1:58 remaining to help Miami regain a one-point lead. Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets drives the lane against Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter in Game Five of the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena on Jin Denver, Colorado.īutler scored eight straight points to help the Heat take an 87-86 lead with 2:45 left after trailing by seven. Denver missed 20 of its first 22 3-point attempts and seven of its first 13 free throws, yet somehow figured out how to close out the series on its home floor. He bailed out the Nuggets, going 12 for 16 from the floor on a night when none of his teammates could find the basket. Jokic had 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Nuggets and earned NBA Finals MVP honors - a trophy certainly more meaningful to him than the two overall MVPs he won in 2021 and '22. Nikola Jokic guided Denver to its first NBA title in team history Monday night, as the Nuggets overcame dreadful shooting and a late flurry from Miami's Jimmy Butler to squeeze past the Heat for a frantic 94-89 victory in Game 5.
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