Veteran Justin Holiday has played for 10 different teams in his extended NBA career, all with varying degrees of competence (and apathy). Seemingly, no one has ever made him believe in the league at its best quite like his current team, the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
On Monday, as the white-hot Nuggets continued gearing up for a pivotal regular-season stretch run, Holiday was asked about Denver flipping its championship-caliber switch after this year’s All-Star break. He subsequently delivered a powerful speech about his tremendous respect for his teammates’ professional approach to the game and how it’s restored his belief in high-level NBA basketball once more.
It’s well worth a watch as it gives a fantastic insight into the mindset of the defending champions and how they can get everyone to buy into their culture:
Justin Holiday recognizes the Nuggets ability to turn it on at the end of the season and he says it’s special and fulfilling to being a part of that culture.
— Katy Winge (@katywinge) March 4, 2024
“It kind of makes me believe in the NBA again…” pic.twitter.com/8uYZZvIvht
Justin Holiday on the Denver Nuggets hitting another gear out of the AS break:
— Brendan Vogt (@BrendanVogt) March 4, 2024
“It’s what I came here for…feeling that intensity…to be able to be a part of that, man, is really fulfilling — really exciting. It kind of makes me believe in the NBA again, if that makes sense.”
Holiday would expand on his thought, noting how much he appreciates the trust that his Nuggets teammates like Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have in one another and how that separates them from the pack:
Justin Holiday: "I feel like I’ve been playing with them for a long time now. The culture here, the character of the guys, how they go about working—how they care about each other. Trust each other. It makes me feel like part of the family…I can see how & why they won (title)."
— Brendan Vogt (@BrendanVogt) March 4, 2024
Man, what else can you say? That is special. As he said himself, Holiday’s been around the league long enough to understand how easy it is to check out on a lousy team that goes through the motions every night. The Nuggets don’t do that. The Nuggets play a selfless brand of basketball that is so engrossing in the pursuit of multiple championships together.
For what it’s worth, Holiday does previously have a ring with the 2015 Golden State Warriors, so he knows what a great NBA team looks like. Chances are, he might add more jewelry to his collection with the Nuggets this year.
