Now this is how you celebrate a championship!
When it comes to NBA championship rings, the Nuggets’ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has two of them, with his first coming as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 with LeBron & Co. But with that title being in the Bubble and the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, Thursday in Denver was the first time that KCP got to enjoy a championship parade.
Caldwell-Pope was critical to the success of the Nuggets‘ 2022-23 NBA championship season, being a big part of the glue that connected the team with star players Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. But it’s not just on the court where Caldwell-Pope shines — he also does when it’s time to party.
Jokić might have been bummed out to be at the parade rather than back home in Serbia with his beloved horses, but my man KCP was all about the party, drinking every beer in sight. He even hopped off the bus at one point to have a chugging contest with a fan, and then gave him a big hug before going back to the parade.
But the best part of this whole parade has to be what KCP did on the back of the bus, catching beers like he was Stone Cold Steve Austin back in the 1990s. And then in true WWE Attitude Era fashion, chugs them down after slamming them together, just like “The Rattlesnake” did.
Oh, man. It was so epic.
STONE COLD KCPpic.twitter.com/aUwXsIRIEr
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 15, 2023
2x NBA Champion Kentavious Caldwell-Pope living his best life at the Nuggets championship parade 🥂😂
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/qpkFuUArZt
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 15, 2023
KCP vs. Nuggets fan chugging contest… you decide who won 😂 #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/hQjLaW6CRe
— Nick Rothschild (@nick_rothschild) June 15, 2023
Even Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone got in on the partying:
Lmao Michael Malone chugs on a beer, then tosses it into the Nuggets crowd 😆 pic.twitter.com/Ht2eoZuaaj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 15, 2023
I might be a Miami Heat fan, but I was smiling so hard for these guys. How can you not love this?
And I would’ve done it exactly like KCP. My man was swagged out, partying with the fans, probably drunk out of his mind, and just swimming in championship glory. I know a lot of people love what Jokić is doing, not caring at all about winning a ring, but screw that noise — I would’ve been partying like it was 1999, just like my man KCP. (RELATED: Kendrick Perkins Predicts LeBron And The Lakers Will Sign James Harden In Free Agency This Summer)
Shoutout to Denver, man! I can’t help but be happy for the city.