Denver, CO

On receiving end of Nikola Jokic’s dimes, Aaron Gordon’s confidence is high: “I’ve got the best hands in the business”

Published

2 years ago

February 3, 2024

On receiving end of Nikola Jokic’s dimes, Aaron Gordon’s confidence is high: “I’ve got the best hands in the business”

Aaron Gordon was running a fade route, straight downfield, but the ball wasn’t lofted up for him to chase. It was thrown on a line, about head height. As he turned to make a catch, multiple defenders were converging on the space between him and the trajectory of the ball.

“It’s not a great pass,” Gordon’s high school coach, Tim Kennedy, recalled.

But Gordon was already mastering a rather niche art: ensnaring the unpredictable and the unwieldy.

The Archbishop Mitty sophomore extended his left arm while in stride, trying to get the first touch on the ball before his opponent. He tipped the pass up and over the traffic — over his shoulders, too — and collected it in his right hand.

“It could have been a pick-six going the other way, a change in momentum,” Kennedy said. “But he was able to absorb a bad pass and not have it cost us.”

The play occurred in a high school basketball game, not a football game. Gordon flushed it in transition. But Kennedy’s word choice was appropriate. With athletic reflexes and reliable hands that would make NFL quarterbacks jealous, Gordon’s receiving skills have become an underrated cornerstone of the Denver Nuggets’ offense, often turning dangerous risks into thrilling highlights.

“He’s always in the right spots, and he’s a strong guy,” Nikola Jokic told The Denver Post. “So whenever we pass it to him, even if it’s a bad pass, he’s gonna catch it and finish.”

No other quarterback in the NBA thrives on the thrill of passing quite like Jokic. Nobody else stoically delights at slinging it through improbable windows: between the raised hands of an opposing center in guarding position, or bouncing over a defender’s outstretched leg into an empty space he expects his receiver to occupy. Behind his own back. Over his head. Over entire unsuspecting defenses.

Someone has to be capable of keeping up with his inventive style for it to work. Gordon is a natural at it. The Nuggets collectively are well-accustomed to handling Jokic’s unpredictable dimes, but Gordon bears the brunt of that responsibility in the dunker spot.

“That’s the best passer in the business,” he told The Post. “I’ve got the best hands in the business.”

If he sounds cocky, it’s because his hands have always been that good. When he played football as a kid, he started at running back but eventually switched to tight end as he grew into a standout athlete in the Bay Area. He was done with football by high school, as much as his school tried to convince him otherwise. His dexterity was clear. He simply brought it to the basketball court instead.

Gordon’s talent and potential were a formula for him to be more of an on-ball player at the time, even though he wasn’t an especially adept ball-handler. His size relative to other teenagers made scheming easy at first: Throw it to him in the post and let him go to work.

“But we would have to challenge him in practices, just to make it tough. Send doubles and triple-teams, because that’s what he was seeing in games,” Kennedy said. “So his ability to catch in traffic was something he got used to almost immediately as a freshman.”

Brandon Abajelo had just moved from Las Vegas when he met Gordon by matching up against him in an eighth-grade rec game. Gordon was already huge for his age (hands included, Abajelo noticed). The new kid pulled off an upset by swatting the ball away from Gordon the first time Gordon went at him one-on-one. Gordon’s competitive fire was ignited. Abajelo didn’t have much luck the rest of the game, but they became close friends and won two state titles together in high school.

From that first interaction alone, Abajelo learned an important truth: If Gordon wanted the ball in his hands, he would get it. Triple-teams be damned.

“A lot of times if I was ever in trouble — if I’m on the wing and I’m getting doubled — the fail-safe is just, throw it in the air and Aaron will go get it,” Abajelo said. “… You try to make a good pass. That doesn’t always happen. But there was a big room for error in terms of where you throw it.”

Understanding that margin of error might have made Gordon’s teammates a little complacent in their precision occasionally, but it also trained Gordon as a receiver even more.

“We weren’t always the best passing team,” Kennedy said bluntly.

By the time Gordon was a senior, he was playing a variety of positions, even running point. Opposing teams were hyper-aware of his high-flying dunk potential, so they scouted and denied any plays designed to end in an alley-oop to Gordon. Kennedy had to tell his other players not to hunt the lob and force bad passes. Gordon was developing as a receiver, sure, but not by catching a ton of 50-50 balls at the rim.

Instead, it was a matter of versatility. Opponents tried to defend him with a physicality that bordered on excessive — he was experiencing the eventual Jokic treatment — so Kennedy would try to send Gordon through multiple screening actions. “He was used to coming at different angles and catching it at different spots, whether it’s that short corner, the high post, low post, even at the wing,” Kennedy said.

The dunker spot in Denver’s ball movement-oriented offense has become Gordon’s baby. He observed Jokic’s masterful court vision and learned to space the floor and cut with pin-point timing that complements the two-time MVP. He has always been a gifted rim-runner. When Jokic saw through multiple Golden State defenders during a fast break in January, Gordon noticed and accelerated. He knew where the bounce pass would end up.

As for actually gathering and controlling the advanced-level passes, Gordon benefitted from a combination of his adolescent experience and naturally athletic hands.

“You just have a coach throw a ball at you as hard as he possibly can, over and over, until you catch it,” he told The Post after snagging and finishing one of Jokic’s recent no-look assists.

The one in question was a cheat code. Denver drew up an after-timeout play in which Gordon slipped behind the defense along the baseline while Jokic and Jamal Murray ran a pick-and-roll. It was supposed to end with Jokic passing, Gordon finishing. It wasn’t supposed to end with Jokic blindly going over the back of his head.

It was as if Jokic simply had to keep Gordon on his toes, even at the possible expense of accuracy.

“He makes me look good,” Jokic said.

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Denver, CO

Family identifies teenage victim of deadly shooting at recreation center in Denver

Published

9 hours ago

May 22, 2026

Press Room

Family identifies teenage victim of deadly shooting at recreation center in Denver

Family members have identified the teenage victim of the deadly shooting at Denver’s Montbello Recreation Center as 14-year-old Mikail Nasir Khalid Payne, who went by Nasir. According to the family, Nasir was standing up for his older brother in an altercation when the shooting happened.

The shooting happened Thursday night at the Montbello Recreation Center off E. 53rd Ave in northeast Denver. Denver Police say a boy has since been arrested and is being held in custody for investigation of first-degree murder.

Nasir’s uncle, Sareef Aleem, said his two nephews went to the rec center on Thursday night. He said Nasir’s older brother was there when the shooting happened and witnessed it.

“Two kids confronted Hassan, and they put their hands on him, and as soon as Nasir stood up, another kid, a third kid that was on the side, blindsided him, and just shot him,” said Aleem. “It’s very difficult. I got the call late last night, we’re just shocked.”

Mikail Nasir Khalid Payne

Sareef Aleem

Police say those involved knew one another, and the victim, Nasir, died at the scene. Police also say it was an isolated incident.

A recreation center is known to be a safe space for many kids after school or during the summer, Nasir’s family says.

“They were created to be a safe place for our kids to go, where they didn’t have to worry about getting shot or assaulted,” said Aleem. “We need to check our kids, check their bags, check their rooms and make sure that they’re taking basketballs to the rec center and not pistols.”

Jolon Clark, Executive Director of Parks and Recreation, said in a statement, “Recreation centers are more than facilities. They are gathering places where community is built, where young people learn and grow and where families come together. They have long been and remain the safest place for our youth to gather, which makes today so much harder.”

Aleem said his nephew, Nasir, was one month away from turning 15. He added that Nasir was respectful, kind, and had an entrepreneurial spirit.

“He used to help his family with their landscaping business on a regular basis. He also used to sell little perfume oils right here in this neighborhood and at the car wash over there. People knew him and respected him,” said Aleem.

“He was well-mannered, courteous, excellent character,” said Imam Abdur-Rahim Ali.

Abdur-Rahim Ali and others gathered at an Islamic Center on Friday, a day of worship for the Islamic community, where Nasir and his family visit often.

“I knew him from coming here for services. He was very intelligent, respectful individual. He came in and made prayer on a frequent basis, and just a respectful youth,” said Abdur-Rahim Ali. “The main day of worship for us is on Fridays, so many people came today, and we told them what happened. Of course, it’s a shock.”

Aleem said in Islamic tradition, family members try to bury their loved ones within 24 hours. As Memorial Day Weekend is just ahead, he added it’s been a burden on the family to take care of before the holiday.

“His family is distraught right now. They’re trying to process what happened. His family just wants everybody to know that he was a good kid, and he didn’t deserve this,” said Aleem. “It’s just a shame that he’s not around to fulfill his dreams.”

The family is also raising money to cover funeral costs.

As the investigation is underway, the Montbello Recreation Center is also closed until further notice.

In a statement from Mayor Mike Johnston, he said, “No statement can capture the grief we feel today. Our hearts are broken. To the family of the victim and the entire Montbello community, know that you have our deepest sympathies and our unwavering support.”

In a statement from the Denver City Council, they said: “The Denver City Council joins Mayor Mike Johnston in extending heartfelt sympathies to the victim’s family, Montbello residents, young people, and the staff at the Montbello Recreation Center following Thursday’s tragic shooting.”

Denver Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 720‑913‑7867.

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Denver, CO

Agency releases claim on $5 million of $7.5 million owed for new Broncos stadium

Published

21 hours ago

May 22, 2026

Press Room

Agency releases claim on million of .5 million owed for new Broncos stadium

When the Colorado Department of Transportation’s investment arm had the chance to buy the idle Burnham Yard from Union Pacific in early 2021 for $50 million, money was tight.

CDOT turned to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade for a $7.5 million loan, which, together with a $7.5 million down payment from the High Performance Transportation Enterprise or HPTE, allowed a $35 million commercial bank loan to move forward in May of that year.

The deal was touted as a once-in-a-generation opportunity that would allow Interstate 25 between Colfax and Santa Fe to be widened and straightened. The purchase could improve transit access, including serving as a potential hub for a Front Range Passenger Rail line.

Not only would frustrated commuters gain back the countless hours of time they were losing to a poor road design, but chances were good that CDOT could make money on flipping the land it didn’t need.

Definitely enough to repay OEDIT, Shoshana Lew, CDOT’s executive director at the time, reassured commissioners.

None of that is happening.

CDOT will sell the 58 acres of Burnham Yard to the Denver Broncos, who are looking to build a new stadium on the site, for $45.8 million, less than what it paid.

After a deeper dive, CDOT nixed its original plans for transit improvements and found the land was more contaminated than expected. It also realized that straightening out I-25 was going to cost billions of dollars it didn’t have.

But not all was lost. A $4 billion football stadium and entertainment district will go into the area, with transit upgrades to serve that new use.

And as for the $7.5 million loan that is owed to OEDIT, only $2.5 million will go back into the state’s Strategic Fund, which is used to recruit employers and fund economic development programs across the state.

The fund has about $3.8 million left.

“What we are asking for today is to convert $5 million of the $7.5 million overall loan into a grant to make the rest of the infrastructure commitments that we’ve made happen,” Lisa Kaufmann, strategic adviser to Gov. Jared Polis, told the Economic Development Commission on Thursday morning.

The money would help fund a relocation of the main rail line, improve road access from Interstate 25, and eliminate three at-grade rail crossings.

For the “modest investment” in public infrastructure, the state would get billions of dollars in private investment, Kaufmann said.

And if that weren’t enough to sway the commissioners, Kaufmann reminded them that the reason the Strategic Fund even had the dollars to lend out was that she had lobbied to get $40 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds in there.

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