Cam Johnson hasn’t been here for long, but it only took him a few pregame introductions to pick up on who the fan favorite is in Denver.
It’s been especially obvious lately. The crowd’s pop for Aaron Gordon has been louder than ever since he returned from a nagging hamstring injury in March, breathing new life and renewed precision into the Nuggets.
“Every time he gets announced in the starting lineup, the arena erupts, you know what I mean?” Johnson said, laughing. “It’s pretty cool. You’ve gotta love that stuff, man.”
And Gordon is a willing recipient of those eruptions. He plays it cool. He cooks up individualized handshakes with his teammates. He gives the fans flashy dunks and gritty defensive stops to show his appreciation.
“He’s an aura curator,” Johnson said — a winking reimagination of the Gen Z colloquialism “aura farmer.”
It’s usually intended as an insult. Only those who are desperate to seem cool would manufacture or farm aura. But to curate it, the 30-year-old Johnson implied — he and Gordon are both Millennials, ironically — is more respectable. Less forced. Or something like that.
“He likes it,” Johnson said. “He just loves to play into that.”
Gordon approves of the label.
“Yeah, I curate the vibes, man,” he said. “I bring the vibes. It’s just nice to be back out there with the guys. … They hear my voice so much when I’m off the floor, so it’s nice to kind of show them what I’m talking about when I’m on the court.”
Getting Gordon to the finish line
Gordon’s absence has often defined the Nuggets’ season, but his presence has stamped two of their most resilient wins of the year. With Monday’s overtime win against the Trail Blazers, they improved to 26-9 when he’s available.
“When Aaron plays,” coach David Adelman said, “we’re a very different basketball team.”
Shaking off a momentary limp in the second half last Saturday, Gordon played a season-high 41 minutes in Denver’s 136-134 triumph over the Spurs, highlighted by his two game-saving defensive possessions. One was against De’Aaron Fox, a 6-foot-3 guard and two-time All-Star. The other was against Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 center and MVP candidate.
No other sequence this year has better encapsulated why the Nuggets desperately need Gordon healthy.
“He’s definitely one of the most versatile defenders in the league,” Nikola Jokic said. “He can guard multiple positions. … Hopefully we can stay healthy, and he can perform like that in the future.”
Jokic was practically pleading to the basketball gods. To secure that win over San Antonio, the Nuggets tempted fate by blowing past a minutes restriction Gordon was supposed to be operating under. It was only the third time he surpassed 35 minutes this season, and the first time he exceeded 40. He had reported tightness in his left calf six days earlier. Then there were his knees, which got banged up from a handful of collisions throughout one of the most physical games of the year.
“I’m gonna be in these Normatecs for the next 36 hours,” he had joked, referring to the compression equipment athletes use for recovery. How he and the team handled the next game against Portland would be crucial.
This all led to Monday, another average night for the cardiac Nuggets. As they climbed back from down 16 in the fourth quarter, Gordon had been suitably protected for the first three quarters with only 18 minutes played. Now he was unleashed. Planting himself in the corner, he drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:13 remaining, a go-ahead shot with 27 seconds left then another go-ahead triple to start overtime.
Another clutch barrage from the Nuggets’ third scoring option, the one who gave them two playoff game-winners last year.
“I date myself all the time and I go back to Orlando, and it’s like a completely different fundamental set of how he shoots the ball,” coach David Adelman said. “It’s effortless. It’s calm. Even though he’s athletic, he doesn’t have to jump high to shoot it.”
“Sometimes you get labeled when you come into the league,” Jamal Murray added, alluding to Gordon’s fading reputation as a non-shooter. “You get labeled a certain way. And then they act like you don’t get better, you know? You spend 10, 15 years in the league, and you haven’t gotten better at anything. So it’s just a testament to his work ethic, his confidence, his ability to adapt and sacrifice for the team.”
Even within the scope of an individual game, Adelman’s planning right now tends to revolve around getting Gordon to the finish line — and not only for health reasons. San Antonio was a perfect example. Jokic was guarding Wembanyama to start the game. Gordon was on Stephon Castle. The Nuggets did a lot of switching on screens, which risked giving up mismatches. Adelman and Jared Dudley had their reasons.
“Even though sometimes it didn’t go well with Wemby, it’s because you’ve gotta give Aaron the full-throttle fourth quarter,” Adelman said. “He’s gotta be able to play with fouls and play aggressively.”
Mission accomplished. Gordon got up in Wembanyama’s space and made the superstar uncomfortable on the last possession of regulation. He successfully contested an awkward shot from the baseline as time expired. Denver’s win streak would have fizzled out if not for the timely stop, even if it didn’t appear on Gordon’s box score like his 23 points Monday. The impact against San Antonio was more intangible.
Call it aura.
“That’s what he brings to the table every day,” Johnson said. “When it comes to somebody like Wemby where (Gordon) can just use his strength, use his positional size, it makes it really a lot more difficult on him. So he was locked in. … That’s gonna be such a special part of what we do going forward and in the playoffs.”
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