DNHQ Rooting Guide: (2) Denver vs. (3) Minnesota; plus open thread

Battle of the Bigs

See the master index at Dub Nation HQ Rooting Guide For Other Teams.

Denver Nuggets

Ex-Warriors

• Current DEN head coach Mike Malone was an assistant coach for the Warriors from 2011-2013 under Coach Mark Jackson. He did a great job, getting honors as the best-regarded and best-paid assistant coach in the league, and lots of praise from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

Warriors Villains 

• No one is a real villain.

Petty Rivalries

• Nikola Jokic. The dazzling playmaker who plays like a guy at the YMCA made a deal with the devil. He’s beat out Steph Curry for MVP in recent years. But there is massive mutual respect between Draymond Green and Jokic.

• DeAndre Jordan. Now in his declining years, he was part of the Lob City Clippers, but was the least annoying prominent face. We studied that rivalry throughly before and found Dub Nation mostly didn’t care about DAJ. Past efforts by the front office to get DAJ resulted in stupid cap moves including losing Jeremy Lin. He also encouraged KD to leave the path of light to form the Jugger-Nets.

Team Grudges

• DEN has played GSW surprisingly tough in the Dynasty years. But GSW had the upper hand in the 2022 title run, beating a not-ready Nuggets team (injured Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon self-reportedly not high enough IQ yet).

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Minnesota Timberwolves

Ex-Warriors

• None.

Friends

• None. Except everyone likes Anthony Edwards.

Unrequited Love

• Parts of Dub Nation really wanted to acquire Naz Reid.

• Leonard Miller was coveted in the 2023 DNHQ Draft Tourney.

• Wendell Moore Jr was the #3 finisher in the 2022 DNHQ Draft Tournament.

Warriors Villains

• Rudy Gobert 

  • did bait Draymond Green into his idiotic chokehold resulting in a 5 game suspension.

  • has beat out Draymond Green as Defensive Player of the Year three times despite sometimes being played off the court in the playoffs.

  • And he did almost infect all those reporters with COVID with the reckless mic touching.

  • And The French Rejection did face off against the Warriors in the 2017 Playoffs, but even though the series was closer than the score, the Jazz never truly threatened. Also Steph did this to him:

• Rudy also took a shot at Draymond after Dray’s preseason punch, which Dray was happy to send back after Gobzilla’s own self-control issue.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1645204104312942593?s=20

Petty Rivalries

• Kyle Anderson was on the annoying 2022 Grizzlies, but frankly compared to everyone else on that team, he seemed well-adjusted. And his recent fight with Rudy Gobert seems to have raised his reputation a bit in some circles.

• Mike Conley was a key player in the Grit and Grind Memphis Grizzlies that faced GSW in the 2015 title run. But Mike seems like an upright, hard working, talented player. It’s not his fault that trolls use his face injury to de-legitimize Steph Curry and the entire 2015 championship.

Team Grudges

• QUITE THE OPPOSITE. MIN has done more for the Golden State Warriors than any other franchise, more than GSW themselves. Drafting two point guards at #5 and #6 in 2009 ahead of Stephen Curry is enough to make then-GM David Kahn an Honorary Warrior for Life. But the recent trade of D’Angelo Russell for Andrew Wiggins and the #7 pick (Jonathan Kuminga) should make MIN the second team of every observant citizen of Dub Nation.

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