Denver, CO
Nikola Jokic on Game 5 slam dunk amid 40-point performance: “I’m a freak of nature”
All in a day’s work, Nikola Jokic dodged questions about his aggression against Rudy Gobert, exhibited gentle embarrassment at being called a genius by his coworkers, then referred to himself as a freak of nature with a complete poker face.
That was at the podium. On the court, he passed behind his back to perimeter shooters, behind his back to the baseline dunkers, over the top of five defenders for Hail Mary touchdowns. He shot 8 for 9 against a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, made ambidextrous hook shots and step-back 3s and spinning driving and-ones and thunderous two-handed slams. All in a day’s work.
“There aren’t enough words,” Aaron Gordon said. “He was amazing tonight. That was ridiculous.”
“It felt like he had 50,” Jamal Murray said after Denver’s Game 4 win, 112-97, over the Timberwolves. “Whenever he gets going like that, you kind of let him dictate the way the game’s gonna go.”
The actual total was 40. And 13 assists. It was the 10th time in Jokic’s career that he has scored that many points without a teammate going for 20. In each of the three playoff games when that phenomenon occurred before Tuesday, the Nuggets lost. Jokic wouldn’t let them lose this one.
So he was entitled to at least one cocky postgame quote, even if its true subtext was self-deprecating.
“I had an open lane,” Jokic said of his first-quarter dunk. “And you know, I’m a freak of nature. Why not show my athleticism?”
By Jokic standards, the driving finish was emphatic. Rarely, if ever, does the Serbian center cock the ball back over his head before throwing down a dunk — except when warming up, as teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope pointed out. When Gordon was asked to share which of Jokic’s improbable shots was his personal favorite, the choice was easy. “When he goes through the lane and he tomahawks it,” Gordon said, grinning, “that’s my favorite.”
It was the second game in a row Jokic has manufactured a highlight that way, following his one-handed jam over Anthony Edwards in Minnesota. This one established the volume of Ball Arena and the tone of a fiercely competitive swing game in the series. Denver has now clawed back from down 2-0 to lead 3-2, thanks in large part to Jokic’s scoring mindset.
His post-ups against Gobert were the main event of the highlight reel. Jokic pivoted in both directions to drop Gobert in a blender early. He play-faked at all the right moments and pulled the trigger without a fake precisely when Gobert was on his heels. He ducked underneath the rim for a reverse hook and leaned away from the rim when he needed one more centimeter of space. He used the glass. Or sometimes he didn’t. He customized his release angle based on space. He heightened the parabola of his arc.
For as much artistry as Jokic is said to incorporate to the game of basketball, his shot-making in Game 5 felt more like the work of a mathematician.
“His IQ is off the charts,” coach Michael Malone said. “He probably belongs to Mensa. He probably doesn’t even know what Mensa is. I’ll quiz guys throughout the series, about play calls, about personnel tendencies, about game plan, and Nikola, he is ahead of everybody. He just knows everything.”
Presented with Malone’s IQ compliment and Gordon’s recent anointment of genius status, Jokic placed his head in his hands. “Funny,” he said meekly.
But that’s the juxtaposition that defines Jokic: His puzzle-solving brain is his superpower, yet the only obstacle between him and consistent 15-for-22 games is the “22” part — some mental barricade. Call it shooter’s block. His mind even betrayed him in Game 2 of this series, when he attempted only 13 field goals in 39 minutes of a blowout loss. He was too determined to pass for his own good.
“Sometimes he’s a little too passive,” Gordon said. “So we appreciate it when he shoots more.”
Jokic’s ownership of the Gobert matchup is increasingly apparent. It dates back years, to the 2020 bubble when the Nuggets overcame a 3-1 first-round deficit to Gobert’s Jazz. Now they’re are on the verge of snatching another series from him, and Jokic’s relentless pursuit of a one-on-one bucket is a major reason why.
When Karl-Anthony Towns guards Jokic, Gobert is lurking on the back line, a physical roadblock to supplement any mental ones. But Denver has improved throughout the series at finding ways to switch Towns or the second Minnesota big off of Jokic, then spacing the original defender to the opposite side of the floor. Jokic’s eyes light up.
He’ll never admit that.
“Some of the shots were really tough,” he said of the 8-for-9 clip against Gobert. “Some of the shots were shots I think I can make. He’s a good defender. Always makes you do a little bit more. And sometimes you need to make a tough shot.”
That, Jokic did. Gobert played some of his most impenetrable defense in the post and on the perimeter. It was helpless. And the newly anointed three-time MVP saved his best for last — an off-the-dribble, step-back 3-pointer in Gobert’s face and over his contest at the shot clock buzzer. It landed Jokic at 40, extended the lead to 13 and extinguished Minnesota’s last remaining comeback ambitions.
“When he gets it going,” Murray said, “and he’s throwing up that stupid one-legged, one-armed behind-the-backboard (shot), I’m just going back on defense.”
For the first time in a decade, Denver plans to revamp its residential health regulations.
City officials have been meeting with housing advocates and stakeholders for the past year, gathering input about how they might better protect tenants and maintain housing habitability standards amid a housing crisis and increasing corporate consolidation in the rental market.
In a Dec. 19 memo obtained by The Denver Post, Mayor Mike Johnston outlined a series of proposals that would increase transparency for residents, help tenant organizations better negotiate with management and ensure that problematic landlords address violations and fines before their rental licenses are approved.
Nicol Caldwell, public health manager with the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, said the agency last updated its regulations 10 years ago — and that was only a minor revision.
“What we’re looking at now is basically a complete overhaul of the ordinance and rules and regulations,” she said in an interview. “It’s gonna be a pretty big effort.”
These changes will come in three different buckets. Internal policies and procedures — such as what inspectors wear and how they fill out forms — can be changed unilaterally by public health leadership. Rules and regulations — such as the minimum temperature a unit must maintain — must be approved by the DDPHE board. Larger changes to Denver’s city code must go before the City Council.
This process began in October 2024 as the city was working on its annual budget. Housing advocates were beating the drum over tenant protections, lamenting a lack of enforcement from city regulators as residents lived in buildings without heat and hot water, or their units were infested with cockroaches and bed bugs.
In response to the feedback, the city agreed to add a public health investigator position as well as an analyst to create a public dashboard for residential health complaints and citations. Johnston also agreed to hold a series of stakeholder meetings with the Denver Metro Tenants Union and other housing organizations to discuss more avenues to protect residents.
“The reality is that there are bad actors out there who are not putting in the work that’s necessary to maintain their properties on a regular basis,” Caldwell told The Post in January 2025.
The mayor’s memo outlined a series of “focus areas” that the public health team will consider during its overhaul, including:
- Requiring landlords to provide tenants with more information about violations and ongoing or completed enforcement actions
- Setting a maximum indoor temperature requirement to address overheating concerns
- Mandating that landlords meet and confer with tenants upon request to discuss property conditions or needed repairs
- Improving communication during the city’s proactive inspections
- Ensuring landlords pay outstanding fines and correct violations before they can renew their residential rental licenses
Some of the changes have already gone live. Members of the public can now find a comprehensive dashboard on the city’s website that tracks residential health complaints, violations and citations for any address dating back to 2022. Renters can now look up a prospective apartment building before they sign a lease, ensuring they’re moving into a space without years of documented problems.
The department previously increased the amount it can fine violators and started applying liens for unpaid fines.
“The ultimate hope is to make sure everyone in Denver, regardless of what type of dwelling they live in, has equal access to a healthy and safe environment,” Caldwell said.
Eida Altman, director of the Denver Metro Tenants Union, called Johnston’s letter “encouraging.”
“It indicated that the mayor’s office hears and understands many of the key issues we have been advocating around, and it signals that the conversation we held over the past year is the beginning, not the end,” she said.
Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, a Denver city councilwoman, said the discussions are “just the tip of the iceberg.” There’s still a lot more work to be done, she said.
“This is a good example of how our government and community can come together to work toward solutions,” she said in an interview.
Caldwell admitted that recent cases of egregious behavior by landlords shone a light on the need for updated regulations.
The department issued heavy fines and ultimately shuttered a neglected building in Denver’s uptown neighborhood last year that was owned by CBZ Management. The building lacked heat, hot water and working fire alarms.
An investigation by The Post in May found the city has handed out residential rental licenses to building owners with years of documented violations, who continue to neglect their tenants immediately after receiving the all-clear.
The city hopes the updated regulations will be done by the end of 2027 — though Caldwell acknowledged that to be a lofty goal. Public health officials still need to sit down with landlords and apartment associations, as well as other city agencies. The job, she said, is to weigh the pros and cons and find a balance.
“Our job is to ensure everyone has a safe and healthy environment,” Caldwell said. “If that means changing regulations that come with a cost, that would be something we have to do.”
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.
Located about 21 miles east of downtown Denver, Denver International Airport is one of the busiest in the United States. In 2024, Colorado’s largest airport saw a record 82.4 million passengers pass through its gates for family outings, ski trips in the Rockies, or an Avalanche game downtown. While that may seem surprising when considering larger cities in the country, seat capacity counts made Denver International Airport (DEN, formerly DIA) the sixth-busiest airport in the world, and it currently ranks as the fourth-busiest in the U.S., beaten only by Dallas Fort Worth, Chicago O’Hare, and reigning champ Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson.
For sheer property size, however, Denver’s airport is untouchable — in fact, Denver International Airport’s massive 53-square-mile footprint is larger than the three busier airports in the U.S. combined, plus that of Los Angeles International Airport. One major benefit of building the airport outside the city is its ability to expand, while public transit and multiple highway routes make airport access reasonably easy for locals and visitors alike. Denver’s airport is also home to one of the longest runways in the world.
One of the first things you’ll notice when flying into the airport is Jeppesen Terminal’s unique design, meant to evoke both the mountains Colorado is famous for and the teepees of Indigenous peoples of the region. The large white peaks covering the airport are the first of many unique, fascinating, and downright weird things you’ll find when traveling through Denver International Airport.
A giant moustache
When taking the long trip east toward Denver International Airport via Peña Boulevard, one of the landmarks you’ll pass is the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport. The hotel opened in 2015, nearly 20 years after the airport itself, and it is a striking piece of architecture that was designed to bring to mind a bird in flight. Colorado residents have claimed to see several other shapes in the design, including a half-pipe, a whale’s tail, a bow tie, and even a pirate ship. Our personal favorite description, however, is the giant moustache.
That’s not to say that the Westin Denver International Airport Hotel is anything but a top-notch place to stay, despite its controversial design. The hotel, which is attached to the airport’s main terminal and accessible via a short walk, features easy transportation to downtown Denver via the city’s light rail system, three restaurants, and stunning displays of artwork from local Colorado artists. And you won’t even notice that you’re sleeping in the metaphorical “fur” of a gigantic bit of facial hair from the inside. If you’ve already saved some money by booking a cheap flight online, why not spend it on a luxury stay?
A pair of gargoyles
Denver International Airport houses several permanent and temporary art installations and exhibits. One of the smallest and often overlooked pieces of artwork is a couple of gargoyles perched above the east and west baggage claim areas. The gargoyles are seated inside suitcases and reside on columns overlooking the recently remodeled east and west baggage areas to help ensure that travelers’ suitcases arrive safely. They are made of cast bronze and were created by Terry Allen, and the pair is collectively titled “Notre Denver.”
Historically, gargoyles were often used to protect buildings both literally and figuratively. The famous statues on Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral serve as rain management systems and represent the concept of evil while warding off darker spirits. And yes, for the pedantic reader, technically non-rain-rerouting gargoyles are called grotesques … but good luck getting anyone to go along with that.
A third gargoyle named Greg was added to the roster for a few years during DIA’s major remodeling project. This talking, animatronic character interacted with travelers and referenced some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories about the airport, and quickly became a hit among travelers and airport employees alike. Unfortunately, Greg may have fallen victim to the very conspiracies he sought to uncover, as he’s nowhere to be found in the airport these days, leaving only the two silent guardians to protect travelers and their belongings — the airport’s official Facebook page claims he was created as an April Fool’s Day joke.
A killer statue
“Mustang” is one of the most notable art installations in or around Denver International Airport, and it’s arguably the most famous — or infamous, depending on who you talk to. The 32-foot-tall statue is a muscular blue horse with a flowing mane, posed rearing up on its hind legs. Located just off a curve on Peña Boulevard, the piece is beautiful in the daylight but really earns its reputation the first time you see it after dark while driving away from the airport.
In a tribute to his father, who ran a neon sign shop, artist Luis Jiménez installed bright red LED lights in the statue’s eyes, which glow menacingly in the darkness. The horse itself, a grotesque presence in its own right, is known as “Blucifer” among locals for its impressive and terrifying presence.
Oh, and lest we forget, there’s an incredibly dark backstory to this statue. Jiménez himself was killed by his own artwork in 2006 when a part came loose in his studio during the piece’s construction, fell on the artist, and severed an artery in his leg. Jiménez’s studio completed the work after the artist’s passing, and “Mustang” was officially unveiled to the public in February 2008, over 15 years after the statue was commissioned.
A series of mysterious tunnels
Most airports have some kind of transportation system to get travelers from the main terminal to various concourses — O’Hare’s people mover is similar to Chicago’s L train system, and Orlando’s transit system brings Walt Disney World’s monorails to mind. Denver International Airport is no different, providing train service between its Jeppesen Terminal and three main gates. But while those other airport transit systems are built above ground, Colorado’s uses a system of underground tunnels to shuttle passengers from the terminal to its gates.
There are some outlandish local legends about those tunnels, with some folks claiming that there are secret buildings and bunkers below the airport, intended to allow secret societies like the Freemasons to take shelter in the event of an apocalypse. Those rumors have circulated ever since the airport was built in 1995, with “clues” like a dedication marker bearing the name New World Airport Commission and Freemason symbols adorning the airport’s time capsule.
Other theories include the existence of lizard people and a hundred-mile tunnel that runs directly from Denver International Airport to NORAD in Colorado Springs. Those theories were embraced by the airport during recent construction, with signage making references to lizard people and the Illuminati. Unfortunately for conspiracy theorists, most evidence suggests the trains and tunnels are just handy people movers with some cool propellers lining the tunnel walls.
Unsettling artwork
“Notre Denver” and “Mustang” are just two of several pieces of art on display in and around Denver International Airport. Some, like “Experimental Aviation,” are brightly colored, whimsical, and full of hope. Others, like the murals titled “In Peace and Harmony with Nature” and “Children of the World Dream of Peace,” are less so, with half of each large mural full of fire, despair, and the dead bodies of animals and people.
The artist of those pieces, Leo Tanguma, has stated that his DIA works are meant to show disturbing images coupled with more hopeful ones, with themes of human liberation and dignity appearing throughout the two-part pieces in the airport’s throughways. But many travelers — often seeing only the creepier aspects of the paintings while walking to baggage claim areas — have complained about the frightening nature of the artwork. Petitions and websites have even been established to push Denver International Airport to remove the artwork permanently.
These murals are temporarily in storage because of DIA’s Great Hall construction project, but they are scheduled to go back on display soon, terrifying and confusing unsuspecting travelers once again.
Long-running Denver lunch spot Mr. Lucky’s Sandwiches, which closed in December after Denver’s Department of Finance seized its two locations, owes more than $40,000 in unpaid taxes, according to the city agency. Galen Juracek, who owns the shops in Capitol Hill and the Highland neighborhood, specifically owes $40,556.11.
Multiple notices posted to the door of Mr. Lucky’s Capitol Hill location showed that the city demanded payment for the back taxes starting in July. But the city’s “distraint warrant” — a legal notice that a business owner owes a specific amount, and that the business could be seized if they don’t pay it — notes the shops, at 711 E. 6th Ave. and 3326 Tejon St., were forced to close on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
Mr. Lucky’s had already decided it would close its two locations by the end of 2025, said Laura Swartz, communications director for the Department of Finance. But the city’s seizure of the business shows that it had not been keeping up on basic requirements, with a $39,956 bill for unpaid sales taxes and $600.11 in “occupational privilege” taxes, which fund local services and allow a business to operate within a specific area.
“When businesses charge customers sales tax but then do not submit that sales tax to the city, the city is responsible for becoming involved,” she said in an email to The Denver Post
Juracek did not respond to multiple phone calls from The Denver Post requesting comment. His business, which is described on its website as a “go-to spot for handcrafted sandwiches since 1999, roasting our meats in-house and making every bite unforgettable,” is listed on the documents as G&J Concepts.
Westword last month reported that Mr. Lucky’s was closing because Juracek decided to move on from the food industry for personal reasons. “Life is about timing,” he told the publication, saying the leases on his spaces were ending.
City documents show that his unpaid taxes go back at least to this summer. He purchased the business, which opened in 1999, in 2017 and opened the second location in 2019.
“We’re not a chain, but we also work very hard to avoid the $20 sandwich and becoming the place people think twice about because of the price point,” Juracek told The Denver Post in 2023. “We can fulfill your basic needs for $6. And if money is no object, we can sell you a $17 sandwich.”
A note written on a brown paper bag, and posted to the Capitol Hill location’s door last month, reads: “We are closed for the day! Sorry.”
Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox.
Community reacts to ICE shooting in Minnesota. And, RFK Jr. unveils new food pyramid
Woman suspected to have been killed in Colorado’s first fatal mountain lion attack in over two decades
Noem puts Newsom on notice, vows California probe after Minnesota fraud bust
Body found during search for missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos as another teen girl disappears
Dem governor-elect taps Crockett’s former ‘chief brand strategist’ for top DEI role
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Community reacts to ICE shooting in Minnesota. And, RFK Jr. unveils new food pyramid
Video: Minnesota Governor Condemns ICE Shooting
Trump greenlights Russian sanctions bill, paving way for 500% tariff on countries supporting Moscow: Graham
Saudi-led coalition says STC’s al-Zubaidi fled to UAE via Somaliland
U.S. to exit 66 international organizations in further retreat from global cooperation
-
Detroit, MI5 days ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Dallas, TX3 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Technology2 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Health4 days agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Nebraska1 day agoOregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska
-
Politics4 days agoDan Bongino officially leaves FBI deputy director role after less than a year, returns to ‘civilian life’
-
Nebraska2 days agoNebraska-based pizza chain Godfather’s Pizza is set to open a new location in Queen Creek
-
Entertainment24 hours agoSpotify digs in on podcasts with new Hollywood studios