Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets are in the NBA Finals for the first time. What Broncos title run best correlates?

Good morning, Broncos Country!

There’s an old adage that the first time is always the sweetest.

Of course, this is beholden to each individual person and their lived experience.

When it comes to sports, there’s an intense debate to be had.

Take the Denver Broncos for example. The first Super Bowl victory on Jan. 25, 1998, is the best moment in franchise history. But what about Jan. 1, 1978? The Broncos’ first taste of any sort of victory to get the first-ever Super Bowl appearance?

The Denver Nuggets are experiencing their first time. Actually, a couple of “firsts.” I get it, not everyone who visits this site or is a Broncos fan is a Nuggets fan, but this is historic and a topic worth discussing.

Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets are in their first NBA Finals.

They did so by getting their first playoff victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, for their first Western Conference Finals win in their first-ever playoff sweep.

So that got me thinking on this week’s Broncos Odds & Endzones podcast: What run by the Broncos best resembles this run by the Nuggets?

Originally, I was going with Super Bowl XXXII. But as Adam and I discussed, I could not shake the win over the Oakland Raiders to get to the first Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys. What that run to Super Bowl XII did for the city of Denver, the state and the region. What it meant for the fans. What it meant for the Broncos.

While the rest of the story has yet to play out for Jokić and Denver, at least to me, that 1977 Broncos season and march to the Super Bowl best mimics what Nuggets fans and the franchise are experiencing right now.

There’s nothing like the first time.

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