Denver, CO
Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic finishes 2nd in MVP voting; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander repeats
Two of the top three players in the NBA will face each other Monday. The other, according to MVP voters, will be watching from the couch.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic finished in second place in the 2025-26 MVP vote, the league announced Sunday night. In what was widely regarded as a three-horse race, Jokic was a distant runner-up but extended his streak of top-two finishes to six consecutive years, joining Bill Russell and Larry Bird as the only players to do so.
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was crowned MVP for the second straight season. San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, just 22 years old, placed third. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year last month. The Spurs and Thunder are set to compete in the Western Conference Finals starting Monday night.
The award is decided by a panel of 100 voters who cover the NBA and its teams for various local, national and international media outlets. Jokic appeared on all 100 ballots, earning 10 first-place votes and 48 second-place nods. He was third on 37 ballots, fourth on four, fifth on one.
Gilgeous-Alexander received the lion’s share of the first-place votes with 83. Wembanyama got five votes for first. Ballots are submitted before the playoffs begin, ensuring that only the regular season is taken into account — meaning that Denver’s first-round exit had no bearing on the tally this year.
Jokic averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game, marking the seventh time in NBA history that a player has averaged a triple-double. Jokic, Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson are the only players to accomplish the feat. Jokic has done it two seasons in a row.
He shot 56.9% from the field, 38% from 3-point range and 83.1% from the foul line, good for a 67% true shooting clip that ranked fifth in the league. At 66.5%, Gilgeous-Alexander was the only non-center to rank in the top eight. He averaged 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the defending champion and first-place Thunder.
Jokic’s season was split in two parts by a knee injury he suffered on Dec. 29, 2025, in Miami. Before he limped off the court with a bone bruise, he was averaging 29.6 points on 67% shooting inside the arc and 43.5% shooting outside it. After he returned a month later, his scoring dropped to 25.8 points per game at a 60.3% clip from 2-point range and an inefficient 31.9% mark from deep.
His shooting splits were even worse in the playoffs — 55.3% from two, 19.4% from three as the Timberwolves eliminated Denver in six games. The Serbian big man struggled to contend with four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert for most of the series. The Nuggets failed to advance to the second round for the first time since 2022.
Jokic has won three regular-season MVPs in his career, in addition to NBA Finals MVP in 2023 when he led Denver to its first championship. He’s eligible to sign a contract extension this summer.
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Denver, CO
Former strip club owner selling Castle Pines mansion for $8M
Troy Lowrie, the Denver entrepreneur who built and then sold a portfolio of strip clubs across six states, is selling his Castle Pines mansion because he says the house deserves an owner who will be there full time.
Lowrie and his wife, Tenicia, are asking $7.8 million for the 11,147-square-foot home, which overlooks the 12th hole of Castle Pines Golf Club. The couple bought the property in 2022 for $6.3 million after selling their longtime Golden mansion for $6.4 million.
Jerome and Mary Kern built the home in 2008. Jerome Kern, who died in 2024, was a telecommunications attorney and philanthropist widely credited with rescuing the Colorado Symphony from bankruptcy in 2011.
The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home was designed by BOSS Architecture and Semple Brown Design and named Home of the Year by Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine in 2012. It has a Castle Rock address because it’s in an incorporated part of Douglas County, just outside Castle Pines limits.
The Lowries weren’t in the market when they stumbled on it.
“We had already bought land in Sedalia and were planning to build,” Troy Lowrie said.
But then they walked through Albion Place. “It’s impossible to build something like this now. The concrete alone would cost at least $3 million,” he said.
Lowrie said the grounds hooked him, especially the year-round heated pools, the glass-walled garden studio and tea house, the koi pond with cascading waterfalls, fire features, and mature 250-foot pine trees on the 1.11-acre lot.
“You feel like you’re in the mountains,” he said.
The home blends centuries-old materials with a modern aesthetic. A 16th-century granite fireplace mantel anchors one room; a 17th-century marble mantel anchors another. Walls of glass throughout dissolve the boundary between inside and out, and a dramatic gallery-style entry opens to soaring ceilings.
After moving in, the Lowries put their own stamp on the home.
Tenicia Lowrie overhauled the kitchen, adding a pizza oven, a full-size refrigerator and freezer, a larger range and a warming oven.
She also updated her bathroom in the primary suite. Step 1: removing an empty fish tank from the shower.
“It looked like a hospital, not a home,” Tenicia Lowrie said. She converted it into a spa-inspired bath, with lighting that mimics falling raindrops.
They added a massage table to the tea house, already a meditative retreat.
Troy Lowrie said there’s room downstairs to add a golf simulator — though he admits he’s not much of a golfer. He plays pickleball and tennis.
“This house probably should belong to someone who plays golf,” he said.
The primary suite is a particular favorite. In addition to double baths and walk-in closets, it includes a sitting area with a television and couch — something Troy Lowrie was initially skeptical about.
“Now I couldn’t live without it,” he said.
The suite also has a small kitchen, and when they are home, the couple admits they often spend most of their time there. Tenicia Lowrie said she already knows she’ll miss her walk-in closet.
The retired couple plan to stay in Florida full time. Tenicia Lowrie is a co-founder of Lucy Sky Cannabis Boutique, a retail cannabis shop.
They have been splitting their time between Colorado and Florida, and if they could, Tenicia Lowrie said they would take their house with them.
During one of their extended absences, a bear got into the koi pond and ate all the fish.
“We feel like we’re cheating the house by only being here four months out of the year,” Troy Lowrie said. “It deserves a full-time caretaker.”
Listing agent Christine Malara with Compass-Denver said the home in the gated community likely will appeal to an executive or an athlete. Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix owns a home nearby.
Although the home feels secluded, it sits near Interstate 25. Denver Tech Center is about 15 minutes away, Dove Valley is 24 minutes, and Denver International Airport is 35 minutes away.
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Denver, CO
Mitchell Fraboni will be the Bronco long snapper in 2026
For the last four seasons, Mitch Fraboni has been the Bronco long snapper (he was the LS for part of 2022). Long snappers are critical, but forgotten parts of every football team. Like offensive linemen, they only get noticed if they screw up.
Mitch is not only a competent long snapper, but he is also a decent tackler, getting anywhere from four to six tackles on punt coverage every season. Mitch had four tackles (3.5) last season on 75 punts – only 29 of which were returned. The leader on punt tackles for the Denver Broncos last season was JL Skinner with 5.5.
Position: LS | 6-2, 223lb (188cm, 101kg)
Admittedly only the gunners and the long snapper can be downfield before the punt is away, but Mitch is still an asset as a tackler on punt coverage.
Denver, CO
Denver Broncos training camp is 2 weeks away
Denver Broncos football is right around the corner.
As the 2026 World Cup nears its July 19 final, sports fans will soon begin turning their attention toward NFL training camps. The Broncos are set to open training camp on July 31 — two weeks from today — with the first of 14 practices open* to fans.
*Due to construction at the team’s facility, capacity at practice will be limited to approximately 1,000 fans, so (free) tickets are required to attend. Those tickets became available on July 1 and were quickly claimed. (Tickets are sometimes returned, though, so fans should check Ticketmaster for potential available tickets.)
Broncos training camp schedule
- Friday, July 31: 10 a.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 1: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 3: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 4: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 5: 10 a.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 6: 10 a.m.
- Friday, Aug. 7: 10 a.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 8: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 10: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 11: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 12: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 17: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 18: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 19: 10 a.m.
Fans should note that Denver’s practice schedule is subject to change due to weather. Be sure to check the team’s Twitter/X page for the latest updates on the practice schedule.
In addition to the open camp practices, the Broncos will play three preseason games in August, including two at home. After that, Denver will open the season against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14.
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