NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 12, 2023

Bruce Brown

Aaron Gordon

Denver Nuggets

Game 5: Postgame

Denver Nuggets 94, Miami Heat 89

Q. Aaron, Bruce, can you describe your emotions right now, what it took and how it feels to have such a team? What are you proud of?

BRUCE BROWN: We feel amazing, obviously. Since day one in training camp in San Diego, we knew we could do this. We worked for this. Was it 17 of us, 15 of us? Worked extremely hard. Every practice, every game, we stayed locked in. We stayed together. So I'm just extremely happy for the group.

Q. Nikola, the MVP, is changing basketball. What did you learn from him?

AARON GORDON: To always be ready. He's a guy that sees the floor no matter where he's at, so you can be open at any time. Just be ready to score and be ready to shoot at any time because he'll pass you the ball. Essentially, he's a point center, which is ridiculous. We haven't seen that before. We've seen a point power forward. Never seen a point center before. So he's the first.

Q. KCP just told me that you and him are going to play a lot of golf this offseason. What are you going to do after that? What's next for you? What are your plans? Aaron, the same.

BRUCE BROWN: I'll take a little time off. I'm going to probably be with Doug, learn how to ride a horse, drink a lot of Jameson and Gingers, play a lot of golf and then be with my dog. Other than that, be with my boys back at home.

AARON GORDON: He's going to get paid is what he's going to do. He's going to get paid to start playing. My man fitting to get a bag.

I told myself if and when we win, I'm going to do exactly what we and I did to get to this point. I'm going to celebrate, but I'm going to continue to work smarter, harder and more efficient.

BRUCE BROWN: That's a professional answer right there.

AARON GORDON: That was tough with a lot of champagne.

Q. What has Coach Malone meant to you on this journey to an NBA championship?

BRUCE BROWN: He's been amazing for me. Just confidence. As you've seen, we've got Nikola, Jamal, MPJ and Aaron on the floor, and last game he's putting the ball in my hands and letting me make a play. So that says a lot. He has the confidence in his players. If he needs to get on you, he'll get on you. But he means well.

AARON GORDON: Yeah, he's just a competitor. He's so damn competitive. He wants it just as much as we want it, if not more. It doesn't matter if we're up 20 or down 20, he's on us. He just stays competitive, and you've got to respect that.

Q. AG, when you got traded here you go 9-1, and then Jamal suffers the injury and with MPJ and the stuff he's dealt with. How nice is it to see the culmination of what you thought you were about to be doing when you first got traded?

AARON GORDON: We saw it. We saw it. When I first got traded, we saw it. We felt like we had all the pieces in order, put together. Then, yeah, of course injuries. But then we got Brucey B and we got KCP, and with the addition of them, it was wraps.

Q. Bruce, has it sunk in yet that you hit the game-winning bucket in the NBA Finals clincher? And also I saw you and KCP had a nice embrace when the final buzzer hit. What did that moment mean for you just sharing that with him?

BRUCE BROWN: No, it didn't sink in. I got the bucket because AG, he had two on him and they forgot about me. So kudos to AG. This is why me and KCP came here this offseason. This is what we wanted to do. This is what we envisioned. This is just a great ending.

Q. I'm just curious how you guys felt being on the court when it was happening. Three, two, one and the confetti. What did it feel like to be out there at the end of the game?

AARON GORDON: Man, it's straight like joy, emotion, validation, just excitement. I heard Brucey B was talking earlier about how he was putting in -- he was waking up at like 6:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. and doing two-a-days and grinding. That's what we have on this team; we have grinders.

Just for two-a-days, three-a-days, four-a-days, and for it to all pay off and all come down and be with the team and be with guys we love, it was emotional, honestly. It's crazy.

Q. Bruce, you know you want to be back here, right?

BRUCE BROWN: For sure (smiling).

Q. Now that you guys have your championship, what's next for this team? What do you see as the future for what's possible?

AARON GORDON: Well, we're going to enjoy tonight, of course. This is a night to be celebrated --

BRUCE BROWN: A few weeks. Not just tonight. We're going to enjoy this for a few weeks.

AARON GORDON: A few weeks to be celebrated. But I believe that it can be replicated. The guys on this team are very humble. The humility is there, the IQ is there and these guys are workers. Championship or not, we don't let it change our character.