Denver, CO
Keeler: Nuggets’ Christian Braun has message for NBA doubters: “I always end up rising to that occasion.”
The most punchable face in the NBA hits back.
“I think there’s always a couple of people that don’t think you can step into that role,” Christian Braun, the Nuggets’ second-year swingman, offered up earlier this week. “But I always end up rising to that occasion.”
Basically, Braun has a message for all the trolls and teleprompter twits who don’t think he’s up for walking a mile in Bruce Brown’s shoes. Know what? You’re right.
He wants to slip on those bad boys Brucey B left behind and sprint up the Manitou Incline at full tilt.
“I want that challenge,” the Nuggets’ breakout rookie and one-time NCAA champion at Kansas said during a promotional appearance with Qdboa in Lakewood. “I want a bigger role and I think everybody wants a bigger role.
“But the fact that the Nuggets show confidence in me and (in) our young guys to come in and take over that role and make that next step means a lot to me. And obviously, I’m going to prove them right.”
Obviously?
“It’s a good challenge and it’s something I’m looking forward to,” Braun continued. “And I can’t wait to get out there. You know, it’s always good to take a step up in your role. And I think that my whole career in college, (it was) the same way.”
See that smoke? Braun wants it. Hater smoke. Doubter smoke. Kendrick Perkins smoke. All of it.
Oh yeah, and the rock. Wants that, too.
“I mean, the work has already started (for me), just doing certain things to expand my game, doing certain things to be a better ballhandler, secondary ballhandler,” the 6-foot-6 Kansas native stressed.
“With Bruce being gone, I’m gonna have more opportunities like that. I think I’m prepared for that. I mean, that’s just part of your whole career — you take a step up there to (get) here.”
The next step is turning the jumper from a hope to a weapon, whether it’s cashing in those no-looks from Nikola Jokic or dropping daggers that keep the second unit’s offense afloat. The ballhandling thing isn’t so much about stepping on the toes of Reggie Jackson and Jalen Pickett as it is giving coach Michael Malone another option in a pinch.
Sort of like you-know-who. Only taller.
“You learn a lot from a guy like (Brown),” Braun said of the former Nuggets sixth man and postseason hero, now a wealthy Indiana Pacer. “I think (Bruce is) a defensive-minded player that ended up playing really well on offense for us.
“I just learned to play hard like that and love (the area). I think (Brown) really stepped into his role and stepped into a new city and fell in love with the city. And I think that that’s why he got all that success.”
The defending NBA champs, on paper, are bringing a more athletic bench to the fight than a year ago. Now whether it turns out to be a better bench depends on the health of the starting five (knocks wood) and the growth of Braun and Peyton Watson.
“I didn’t expect to come in my rookie year and have the ball in my hands all the time. But I do expect, going forward, that I’ll get more and more opportunities,” Braun noted.
“So (the work is on) my overall game. Whether it’s catch-and-shoot, whether it’s hitting free throws this year, things like that, just focus on my game. And everybody knows when I get that opportunity, I’m going to play hard on defense, I’m going to get to every play.”
And if you don’t want to take a Jayhawk at his word, then consider Malone’s actions.
The Nuggets coach trusts your typical rookie about as far as he can throw him. Yet since the 2015-16 season, only three newbies have seen more total minutes in their first NBA seasons in Denver than Braun’s 1428 in ’22-23 (regular season and playoffs): Jokic (1,733), Jamal Murray (1,764) and Emmanuel Mudiay (2,068).
As far as rookie playoff minutes under Malone, only Michael Porter Jr. in the ’20 bubble (451) got more run than Braun landed (247) this past spring.
On Chopper Circle, trust isn’t a given.
It’s earned. The hard way.
“I think there’s always people that step into that (larger) role,” Braun allowed, “but I think I learned a lot from a lot of people last year. And I think I’m ready.”
For better or worse, the road to the NBA Finals runs right through those punchable dimples. The grin on Braun’s face said he wouldn’t have it any other way.
More than 400 flights were delayed Tuesday afternoon at Denver International Airport as high winds blew across the area, according to flight tracking data from FlightAware.
There were 406 flights delayed and five canceled as of 5:20 p.m. as wind gusts at the airport hit 43 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., 70 flights were delayed and one was canceled, according to live flight tracking by FlightAware’s Misery Map.
United, Alaska Airlines, Southwest, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Key Lime Air, SkyWest, WestJet, American Airlines and Air Canada all had delayed or canceled flights.
Southwest had nearly half of the delayed flights, with 168 delays and one cancellation. United delayed 128 flights, according to FlightAware.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.
DENVER (KDVR) – From the outside, the Denver Mint may be just another two-story government office across from Civic Center Park. But inside the Cherokee Street building, staff and machinery are busy pressing metal coils into millions of coins per day.
According to the Mint, it’s one of two facilities responsible for making circulating coins in the United States – making it a huge part of the nation’s coin flow.
According to Tom Fesing with the Denver Mint, the facility produces roughly 4.5 million coins every 24 hours. Fesing estimates that about $750,000 to $1 million has gone through the facility each day this year.
That said, the Mint can’t exactly predict how much is going to be produced throughout the year as the number of coins depends on the orders the Mint receives monthly from the central bank, the Federal Reserve System, Fesing said.
Despite the millions of dollars in coins passing through, Fesing said the coin with the lowest value, the penny, has historically had the most production.
Those numbers depend on how many coins are needed for cash transactions in the economy, according to Fesing.
“When someone gets back a cent in change, what happens to them? They usually end up in piggy banks, or in a jar, and they’re not introduced into circulation as fast as, let’s say, a quarter or a dime,” Fesing said.
While the Mint can’t predict the numbers for the end of this year, it has produced almost 1.3 billion coins this year, with almost 800 million being pennies. In 2023, the Mint produced around 5.65 billion coins for the entire year.
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — United States Ambassador Ken Salazar praised Mexico’s effort protect American agricultural inspectors in the conflict-ridden state of Michoacan on Monday, a week after the U.S. suspended avocado and mango inspections following an attack on inspectors.
Salazar traveled to the state, plagued by violence linked to organized crime, to meet with state and federal officials.
Earlier this month, two employees of the U.S. Agriculture Department were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in Mexico’s biggest avocado-producing state, prompting the U.S. government to suspend inspections.
The diplomat told the press that last Friday that Michoacan authorities had agreed to a security plan to restart avocado exports. “We are going to continue working on this,” he added.
The U.S. said that inspections in Michoacan would resume gradually.
Mexico played down the attacks, but President Andrés Manuel López Obrador agreed to work with the United States to guarantee the safety of inspectors.
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
There have also been reports of criminal groups trying to sneak avocados grown in other states that are not approved for export through U.S. inspections.
In February 2022, the U.S. government suspended inspections of Mexican avocados for about a week after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Michoacan received a threatening message.
Later that year, Jalisco became the second Mexican state authorized to export avocados to the U.S.
The latest pause won’t stop Michoacan avocados that are already in transit from reaching the U.S.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24954366/236805_Quest_3_and_Ray_Ban_meta_glasses_BFarsace_0027.jpg)
Meta tests Vision Pro-like freeform virtual screen placement for Quest headsets
WikiLeaks’ Assange is free after pleading guilty in deal with Justice Department
Mike Kennedy advances past crowded GOP primary to secure nomination for open Utah House seat
Life after death: Take a glimpse into the world of cryonics
Knicks reunite Mikal Bridges with Villanova teammates in blockbuster trade with Nets: reports
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Mike Kennedy advances past crowded GOP primary to secure nomination for open Utah House seat
France elections: Germans prepare for seismic change in EU politics
Iowa floodwaters breach levees as even more rain dumps onto parts of the Midwest
Fox News Politics: Trump Ungagged…Kinda
A right to drink? Inside the debate to protect US workers against the heat
-
News1 week agoJoe Biden, Barack Obama And Jimmy Kimmel Warn Of Another Donald Trump Term; Star-Filled L.A. Fundraiser Expected To Raise At Least $30 Million — Update
-
News1 week agoIt's easy to believe young voters could back Trump at young conservative conference
-
World1 week agoRussia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 842
-
World1 week agoProtesters in Brussels march against right-wing ideology
-
World1 week agoSwiss summit demands 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine
-
News1 week agoA fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations
-
Politics1 week agoJudge rules Missouri abortion ban did not aim to impose lawmakers' religious views on others
-
World1 week agoAl-Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for June attack in Burkina Faso