He created another one on January 4, with a buzzer-beating three-point shot to secure a comeback Nuggets victory over the Golden State Warriors. The center gleefully threw his hands into the air, jumping into teammate Aaron Gordon’s arms.
It felt like a championship moment all over again. And according to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) — the company that operates the team in Colorado on behalf of owners Stan and Ann Kroenke — supporters are still spending cash on the victory.
“Overall, fans have been hungry to celebrate the first championship in franchise history,” says Jon Waldron, senior director of retail operations for KSE.
Altitude Authentics is the name of both the physical team store at Denver's Ball Arena and the online marketplace where people can buy merchandise for the Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids. It currently carries over sixty Nuggets championship items.
Here are the top five sellers:
NBA Champs Locker Room Hat: The lids the team wore when they beat the Miami Heat to clinch the championship on June 12, 2023, are still the most popular product. The hat originally drew criticism from some who felt the cursive font read “champians” instead of “champions,” but either people decided they didn’t care, or that became part of the appeal.
NBA Champs Locker Room T-Shirt: This item is no longer available online because it’s sold so well. As with the hat, those who sport the shirt will be wearing exactly what the team members put on minutes after their victory.
NBA Champs Locker Room Hoodie: The hoodie includes the same arched 22-23 NBA Champions text encasing a Nuggets logo and Larry O’Brien trophy as the shirt, and has sold nearly as well.
NBA Champs Pennant: A classic triangular sports pennant is a more affordable option for fans who want to preserve their championship memories or for fans who don’t want to wear merchandise.
Mini Larry O’Brien Trophy: A replica of the trophy that the team hoisted in Ball Arena and during the subsequent championship parade rounds out the top five.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić rode together with their trophies. Fans can buy tiny replicas of the championship idol.
Catie Cheshire
Among those additions are on-demand handcrafted items, including miniature replica courts and wooden blocks with certifications of their authenticity, created by a Cincinnati company called Artsman.
And now you can buy championship bobbleheads of the Nuggets team: On January 5, these bobbleheads were officially added to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee. The lineup of Jokić, Gordon, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Jeff Green, Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Kentavious Caldwell Pope and Michael Porter Jr. is currently featured on the museum’s Champions Wall. Even Nuggets mascot Rocky has a championship bobblehead.
The wall celebrates the most recent champions from the NBA, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball — though it hasn’t yet been updated to reflect the Texas Rangers’ World Series victory last November.
“We have all the Colorado teams represented in the museum — the Nuggets, Avalanche, Rockies, Broncos, minor league teams, colleges, famous people from Colorado,” says Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the museum.
The Nuggets championship bobbleheads are available with the team’s blue or white jerseys, and there are extra Jokić figurines to commemorate his MVP award. Jackson, who went to Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, looks particularly cool as a bobblehead, thanks to his signature sports glasses and headband.
“The museum’s Champions Wall is a visitor favorite and an honor for the teams that are showcased each year with the championship bobbleheads,” Sklar says. “The bobbleheads are also among the most popular each year for fans, and we encourage Nuggets fans to get them while they can.”
The Denver Nuggets are now part of the Wall of Champions.
National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
What’s not available at the team store is championship jewelry, including replica rings. The actual championship rings are worth $75,000 and were only made available for purchase to a select group of VIPs, according to a KSE insider.
But regular people can still dish out plenty of cash through the Denver Nuggets Fan Program for rings designed by jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills; that company also designed the 2021 championship rings honoring the Los Angeles Rams, another Kroenke team. (When the Avalanche won in 2022, those rings were designed by Jostens.)
Replica rings ranging from $895 for a version with cubic zirconia jewels to a $9,995 model with real diamonds and sapphires are available. According to Jason Arasheben, CEO of the jewelry company, that expensive ring has been the most popular of all the available pieces.
"Championship rings have been a huge success," Arasheben says. "We can really see that the Denver community really rallied behind their team and enjoyed celebrating the championship with a ring of their own."
Fans can also buy pendants, bracelets, earrings, cufflinks and keychains designed for the Nuggets championship on the Jason of Beverly Hills website.
The team store at Ball Arena is open Monday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and during games, for those who need more than incredible new Jokić highlights to keep the championship high going.
