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Stephen A. Smith does not want to return to Denver for NBA Finals

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Stephen A. Smith does not want to return to Denver for NBA Finals


The Boston Celtics won their 11th straight on Sunday and the Denver Nuggets vaulted into first place mid-afternoon thanks to some help and on the back of their own six-game winning streak.

The NBA seems to be shaping up for an NBA Finals matchup the world just missed out on last year, the Celtics against the Nuggets. And what could be better than finally seeing the leprechauns take on the pickaxes, they’ve easily been the two best teams in basketball the last handful of years. For Stephen A. Smith, a trip to Texas seems more appealing than what would be that incredible series.

“I’m not coming around to that (going to Denver,)” he said on ABC on Sunday after Boston’s win. “I’m holding out for the Clippers, I’m holding out hope for Dallas.”

ABC has the rights to the NBA Finals, and the whole barrage of buffoons who have said brainless things in the past, descended on the Mile High City last summer only to see the Nuggets go 16-4 en route to the club’s first championship. Later in the summer, ESPN fired two separate members of their main broadcast booth, who possibly not so coincidentally, had been cruel to Jokic in the past. A third ESPN broadcaster who has been highly critical of Jokic in the past was also demoted down the broadcast team depth chart.

It’s Smith’s second time in less than 24 hours that he has been upset by the Nuggets success. The outspoken star of ESPN unloaded on the Lakers after the Nuggets win in Los Angeles on Saturday night. On ABC’s postgame show, he gave almost zero credit to Denver for beating LeBron James’ crew for an eighth-straight time and focused solely on how the Lakers championship aspirations are not being met.

Smith seems to be just another in the long line of ESPN commentators who have begrudged against Denver’s success at best and have straight-up sabotaged it at worst. On top of the gripes about Jokic and the Nuggets now comes some weak hate for the city of Denver.

A city by the way that loves sports so much that it’s the center of the country’s smallest metro area to host a team in all five major North American leagues.

And Colorado certainly seemed good enough for Smith when he sent First Take and every other ESPN show on the road to Boulder for a weekend with Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes last fall. A few months later he’d throw out Deion Sanders’ name as a possible Nick Saban replacement at Alabama. Smith said while discrediting the state and insinuating success in the state wouldn’t be real, “Go ahead and be happy in Boulder, Colorado. God bless you… I was there twice in my life and the only reason for that was him.”

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But Smith wouldn’t be the first one to prefer Dallas and other cities over Denver, FIFA did the same when they picked World Cup hosting sites for the 2026 event. Though, in that case, the arena size made sense whereas on the hardwood, the Mavericks failed to make it to the playoffs last year and the Nuggets haven’t been that low since 2018.

A few years later now, we may have the answer to a couple of questions we had earlier in Denver’s build to this title team. Would Jokic need to become an All-Star or even an MVP to get a better whistle? He has done each and the whistle has not followed. And would Jokic’s Nuggets need to win a title to garner league-wide respect? The team accomplished their ring and for a short time had that respect but less than a year later, it’s almost all but been forgotten by the league’s main broadcast partner.

It’s these questions and answers that led to Michael Malone’s legendary vindictive quotes during and after the Nuggets playoff run. And it’s this very attitude by ESPN and their broadcasters that had the entire city of Denver boo-ing a member of the four-letter network’s crew, Lisa Salters, as she handed Jokic his Finals MVP.

Well here the Nuggets are again, back at the top of the West and the NBA’s biggest partner is vocally once more.

Maybe NBA star Kevin Durant said it the best one time on Twitter, “NBA fans don’t like anything about the NBA and it’s weird.”

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Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others

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Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others


Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.

Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.

Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.

Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.

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At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.



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Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines

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Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines


The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.

Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.

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At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.

“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”

One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.

Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.

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“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”

The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.

Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.

“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”

McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.

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“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”

While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.

“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”

More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.

Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.

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Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.

“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.

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Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy

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Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy


Denver will be the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy.

Funding for the project was approved by Denver voters in the Vibrant Denver Bond measure.

The vision is for the embassy to welcome Native people back home to Colorado.

On the snowy day of CBS News Colorado’s visit, Rick Williams observed the buffalo herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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“These animals are sacred to us,” said Williams, who is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne. “This was our economy. They provided everything we needed to live a wonderful lifestyle.”

Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, looks at buffalo at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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Williams is president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy.

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“‘Homeland’ is a special term for everybody, right?” Williams asked. “But for people who were alienated, for American Indians who were alienated from Colorado, they don’t have a home, they don’t have a home community that you can go to, this is it. And I think that’s sad.”

The First Creek Open Space — near 56th and Peña, near the southeast corner of the Arsenal — is owned by the City and County of Denver and is being considered for development of the embassy.

“To have a space that’s an embassy that would be government-to-government relations on neutral space,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who represents northeast Denver District 11. “But then also supporting the community’s economic development and their cultural preservation.”

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Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore speaks from the First Creek Open Space in northeast Denver about the possibility of building the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy at the site.

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Gilmore said $20 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond will support the design and construction of the center to support Indigenous trade, arts, and education.

“That sense of connection and that sense of place and having a site is so important if you’re going to welcome people back home,” added Gilmore.

“What a great treasure for people in Colorado,” Williams said as he read the interpretive sign at the wildlife refuge.

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Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, reads a sign at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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He said the proposed location makes perfect sense: “Near the metropolitan area, but not necessarily in the metropolitan area, we would love to be near buffalo. We would love to be in an area where there’s opportunities for access to the airport.”

The Denver March Powwow could one day be held at the embassy.

Williams dreams of expanding the buffalo herd nearby and having the embassy teach future generations Indigenous skills and culture.

The concept for the embassy is one of the recommendations emerging from the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, a group of American Indian leaders in Colorado who began to organize four years ago to study the history of Native Americans in our state.

And the work is just beginning.

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“We have to think about, ‘how do we maintain sustainability and perpetuity of a facility like this?’” Williams said. “So there’s lots of issues that are going to be worked on over the next year or so.”

Williams added, “One day our dreams are going to come true, and those tribes are going to come, and we’re going to have a big celebration out here. We’re going to have a drum, and we’re going to sing honor songs, and we’re going to have just the best time ever welcoming these people back to their homeland.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s staff sent the following statement:

“We are excited about the passing of the Vibrant Denver Bond and the opportunity it creates to invest in our city’s first American Indian Cultural Embassy. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with the Indigenous community to plan and develop the future embassy, and city staff have already been invited to listen and engage with some of our local American Indian groups, like the People of the Sacred Land. We are not yet at the stage of formal plans, but we are excited to see the momentum of this project continue.”

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