Justin Simmons could be on the verge of finding a new home.
The former Broncos safety is set to visit the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, a source familiar with the situation told The Denver Post. The news was first reported by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.
Simmons is one of the best free agents available. In eight seasons with the Broncos, Simmons recorded 604 tackles, 30 interceptions and 65 passes defended. Simmons’ interception total is the most by a player since 2016.
He made his second Pro Bowl appearance in 2023 after he totaled 70 tackles, three picks and eight passes defended. In March, the Broncos parted ways with the 30-year-old defensive back to save $14.5 million in cap space. Following the departure of Simmons, Denver retained P.J. Locke on a two-year deal while signing former Dolphins safety Brandon Jones to a three-year deal, worth up to $22.5 million.
On Monday, the Broncos released safety Caden Sterns after an injury plagued tenure in Denver, as they team is relying on Locke, Jones and second-year safety JL Skinner to defend the back end of the field. Sterns was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday.
In June, Simmons expressed that he wanted to join a team that gave him the opportunity to continue playing at a high level, but more importantly, ready to win. The Saints finished 9-8 in 2023 and haven’t been to the postseason since 2020 when Sean Payton was still the head coach.
If Simmons ends up signing with the Saints, he will join a secondary that consists of safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
The Taste of Ethiopia festival at Parkfield Lake Park in Denver on Aug. 4, 2024. Colorado’s Taste of Ethiopia Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary with an extended two-day event on Aug. 3 and 4, 2024.
This special anniversary edition of Colorado’s Taste of Ethiopia Festival offered a unique opportunity to explore the rich heritage and vibrant traditions of Ethiopia. A wide array of traditional Ethiopian foods, collectibles, clothing and music and dance presentations were the highlights of the weekend long festivities.
The event is organized by The Taste of Ethiopia Heritage Foundation which is a non-profit organization, was established for cultural, educational, and charitable purposes. This includes promoting and preserving Ethiopian heritage, supporting educational initiatives, and organizing the Taste of Ethiopia Festival to celebrate Ethiopian culture, which has been present in Colorado for over half a century.
Denver Post reporters Parker Gabriel and Ryan McFadden cover key storylines as the Broncos get ready to start 2024 training camp under Sean Payton, including Quinn Meinerz’s massive contract extension, whether Pat Surtain II might be next and how the three-man QB race between Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson sets up in the coming weeks. All that and more on the latest edition of the 1st & Orange Podcast.
Firefighters gained 100% containment on the Dinosaur fire Saturday night, emergency officials said in a post on X. Fire crews will continue to monitor the area Sunday to make sure it’s fully extinguished.
The fire sparked on the second switchback near the Mallory Cave Trail on Friday morning burned across 4 acres — approximately three football fields — but did not lead to any pre-evacuation or evacuation orders.
Trails in the area are expected to reopen Sunday or Monday.
Colorado’s senators and a congressman are demanding answers from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs leadership over a series of troubling reports about its Aurora hospital.
Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats, and Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat, sent a letter to VA leadership on Monday requesting an accounting of patient safety issues, further explanation over its current pause in surgeries due to a mysterious residue on its medical equipment, and steps the hospital has taken to address pervasive cultural problems among its staff.
“As problems persist within the (Eastern Colorado hospital system), we are increasingly concerned about the quality of care Colorado veterans receive, a lack of adherence to the required medical and employee procedures, and how recent leadership changes have impeded the system’s effectiveness,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter comes on the heels of two scathing reports from the VA’s Office of Inspector General, which investigates departmental waste, fraud and abuse.
The probes, released June 24, found Aurora’s Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center paused surgeries for more than a year in 2022 and 2023 because the hospital didn’t have the staff to care for those patients after their procedures. They never told the federal VA as required, the investigation found.
The second inspector general report said the Aurora VA suffered from poor organizational health, citing widespread fear among staff that promoted disenfranchisement. Doctors stopped performing high-risk procedures, one staffer said, for fear of punishment if something went wrong.
The investigation mirrored The Denver Post’s reporting since last fall, which found the toxic workplace and culture of fear had permeated a wide swath of departments, leading to high turnover, especially among senior leadership positions. The Post also found that the head of the hospital’s prosthetics department was instructing employees to cancel veterans’ orders to clear a large backlog. The VA later confirmed The Post’s reporting.
Bennet, Hickenlooper and Crow, in their letter, asked the VA to respond to a series of questions, including detailed queries about the mysterious residue that has halted hundreds of surgeries since April. The Post first reported in May that the hospital was rescheduling or referring to community hospitals all surgeries that rely on reusable equipment.
The elected officials also asked the VA about staffing shortages at the hospital network, along with reports that many veterans in the system have been waiting months for their first face-to-face appointment with a provider.
“We share the goal of providing veterans across the country with timely, quality and consistent health care,” the letter states. “The continuous appointment delays and ongoing quality issues at (the hospital) undermine this objective.”
It took 14 innings and required clutch defense, but the Rockies gutted out a 5-4 win over the White Sox Sunday afternoon at Guarantee Rate Field.
Colorado manufactured the winning run in the 14th when Sam Hilliard’s sacrifice bunt moved Ryan McMahon from second to third, and then McMahon scored on Michael Toglia’s sacrifice fly.
Lefty reliever Jalen Beeks kept the White Sox from scoring in the bottom of the frame to help the Rockies end their five-game losing streak.
The Rockies won despite getting only six hits, striking out 21 times and going 2 for 17 with runners in scoring position.
Without web gems from center fielder Brenton Doyle, left fielder Nolan Jones, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and third baseman Ryan McMahon, the Rockies would not escaped Chicago with a victory in the three-game series.
Long before the 3-hour, 25-minute marathon was decided, lefty Kyle Freeland gave the Rockies 6 2/3 workmanlike innings. His only big mistake through the first five innings came in the fourth. He threw a misplaced 0-1 slider to leadoff hitter Andrew Vaughn, who parked the ball to left to get the White Sox on the scoreboard.
The sixth was a little rough for Freeland. He gave up solid singles to Vaughn and Eloy Jimenez, but Freeland’s defense rescued him. Doyle did a Superman dive to rob Luis Robert of a hit, and Jones snared Paul DeJong’s sinking liner.
Chicago tied the game, 2-2, in the seventh when Freeland faltered. Corey Julks and Lenyn Sosa opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Danny Mendick’s perfect bunt moved them into scoring position. Freeland got out No. 2 by inducing pinch-hitter Korey Lee to pop out to center fielder Doyle.
But then Freeland walked Tommy Pham, loading the bases. Manager Bud Black called on right-hander Victor Vodnik, but Vodnik walked Vaughn on five pitches to force in the tying run.
The Rockies took a 2-0 lead in the second by doing something they haven’t done very often on the road this season: string quality at-bats together. McMahon led off with a single and raced to third on Elias Diaz’s single. McMahon scored on starter Garrett Crochet’s balk and Diaz advanced to second.
Toglia’s single moved Diaz to third and Diaz scored on Hunter Goodman’s sacrifice fly to right.
Colorado Rockies’ Elias Diaz celebrates after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Goodman during the second inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Molly Berman, right, and Charlotte Esposito, center, challenge each other to a drink off as they wait for the lifts to open at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on Loveland Pass, Colorado on June 16, 2024. Today was the final ski day at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. That would give The Legend Colorado’s longest ski season — as usual — having begun on Oct. 29 and lasting 222 days. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
First things first: Adael Amador makes quite a first impression.
Called up from Double-A Hartford, Amador made his major league debut Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. The Rockies’ No. 1 prospect singled on his first swing on the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat. The second baseman’s forever-memory moment arrived when he led off the third inning with a looping single to right off Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante. Amador connected on Pallante’s 94.1 mph fastball.
In Colorado’s 5-1 loss, Amador hit 1 for 3 with one strikeout and stole his first base. At age 21 and 59 days, Amador became the second-youngest position player in Rockies franchise history to make his major league debut behind current starting shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (21 years, 53 days), who debuted on Sept. 23, 2022.
“He looked fine of defense,” manager Bud Black told reporters in St. Louis. “He was probably a little amped up. … He expanded (the zone) a little bit today, which is out of his norm. But I think that will probably quiet down a little bit as each day goes on. We didn’t see the expansion of the strike zone in spring training. I’m sure he was fired up today, but overall, he looked comfortable.”
Amador, the No. 32 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, was called up to replace veteran second baseman Brendan Rodgers, who is dealing with a left hamstring strain and was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday.
Unless Amador lights up major league pitching, his first stay with the Rockies will be short, and he’ll be optioned to the minors for more seasoning. But the Rockies thought the time was right to give Amador a test run.
“It’s going to give Amador a taste of the majors here for a short period of time until ‘B-Rod’ comes back,” Black told MLB.com. “We’re excited about that. It’ll give us a chance to look at him. He’ll be exposed to the pace of a major league game versus a Double-A game. He’s in good form at 21 years old.”
Even though Amador faced early failure at Double-A, that didn’t dissuade general manager Bill Schmidt from making the move.
“The thing that prompted this was the last 10 days, (Amador’s) been playing well,” Black said. “He’s hit some homers. Even though his batting average is below .200 and doesn’t look great, he’s been hitting well over .300 the last week or so. His defense has been fine. He’s leading the Eastern League in walks and stolen bases, so there are some things to be excited about.”
Amador was slashing just .194/.337/.329 over 209 plate appearances when he got his call to the majors. But since mashing his first home run of the season on May 21, he slashed .295/.389/.656 (1.045 OPS) with seven homers, one double, 18 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 15 games. During his hot streak, he led the Eastern League in home runs while ranking second in RBIs, stolen bases and total bases (40).
With Aaron Schunk and Coco Montes, the Rockies have older players at Triple-A Albuquerque who could have replaced Rodgers, but neither is on the 40-man roster, so Amador’s promotion made the most sense.
A man in his 20s was underwater and had not resurfaced for more than nine minutes, according to the department.
Divers found the man around 5:34 p.m., according to officials, and first responders performed CPR. The man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, according to a 5:41 p.m. update on X.
Severe thunderstorms with large hail, damaging winds, heavy rain and a tornado are possible in Colorado’s northeast corner Sunday and isolated showers are expected in the mountains and Denver metro area, according to the National Weather Service.
Severe thunderstorms are possible in the eastern plains this afternoon, especially east of Sterling and Akron from 3 to 7 p.m. Hail larger than 2 inches in diameter with damaging wind greater than 60 mph, heavy rain and an isolated tornado is possible. Weak showers and thunderstorms are expected in north central and western Colorado, according to NWS forecasters.
The Denver metro area will be mostly sunny today with a high of 89 degrees. Showers and thunderstorms between 3 and 5 p.m., with wind gusts up to 23 mph, are possible. The low tonight will be around 52 degrees.
High temperatures in the Denver metro area are expected to continue for much of the week, with a high of 87 degrees Monday, 84 Tuesday and 91 Wednesday. Showers and thunderstorms may return Thursday night and Friday, according to the NWS.
Thunderstorms are possible in portions of central, east central, south central and southeast Colorado Sunday. Storm may develop over the Raton Ridge this afternoon between noon and 1 p.m. and move east into portions of Kiowa, Bent, Prowers and Baca counties. Severe storms, especially east of Eads, with hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter, 60 mph wind gusts, cloud to ground lightning and heavy rainfall may be possible.
Isolated showers and thunderstorms may continue along the mountains in portions of central, east central, south central and southeast Colorado through much of the week. Gusty winds and lightning may also be possible.
Very warm weather is expected to continue in northeast and north central Colorado throughout this week. Wednesday may be the hottest day of the week, with highs in the lower 90s for most of the plains and the Interstate 25 corridor. Showers and thunderstorms may be possible Monday night, with dry conditions through Thursday, according to NWS forecasters.
LAKEWOOD — Lochlan Walker was still winded and hunched over from his 100-meter dash when his mom, Paige, mobbed him with the news of his personal record time of 12.48 seconds.
They smiled simultaneously and shared a moment they won’t soon forget as Walker, a Fairview High School senior, notched the fastest time for a Special Olympic/Paralympic athlete on Thursday afternoon at the 2024 CHSAA state track and field meet at Jeffco Stadium.
About an hour later, Walker also recorded the best Special Olympic/Paralympic time in the 200 meters, at 25.92. Those marks made him the fastest disabled athlete in the state, but more importantly, offered proof that his differences don’t matter out on the track.
Fairview’s Lochlan Walker wins his heat during the Geoffrey Zaragoza Paralympic and Special Olympic 100m dash at the 2024 Track & Field State Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colorado on May 16, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
“The Fairview team has been so accepting of Lochlan. It’s been a whole lot of ‘you can do this’ since his sophomore year,” an emotional Paige Walker said. “There has been no difference in the way his teammates treat him. It’s not, ‘That’s Lochlan and he runs Unified.’ It’s, ‘That’s Lochlan and he’s on our team.’
“For him, that’s been really good to not feel different. And for me, it’s not just my excitement for what he’s doing, but the excitement of kids who have (historically) been pushed to the side to get on this stage and do this. They get to run. You can talk about inclusivity all you want, but talking about it and seeing it are two different things.”
CHSAA has run a Special Olympic/Paralympic 100-meter dash since 2000, according to CHSAA track commissioner Jenn Roberts-Uhlig. In recent years, the organization added other sprint events as well as field events (long jump, shot put, discus). What began with one heat in the 100-meter dash in 2000 has since expanded to 17 heats across the 100 and 200 meters this year.
The events remain exhibitions, with any Special Olympic/Paralympic athlete eligible to compete, even without a qualifying time/distance.
But on Thursday, that unofficial status made no difference to Walker, an 18-year-old with autism and a receptive speech delay whose ultimate goal is to compete in the Special Olympics World Games.
“People say that I am the fastest (Special Olympian) in the state, and yes, I am,” a grinning Lochlan said after winning the 100. “I’m hoping to get into Special Olympics soon, so I can be great at this sport for many years. My mom and I just need to figure out how to do that. But the past three years, the coolest part is being able to see my friends during track, supporting them, seeing them support me.”
CHSAA’s 100-meter dash for disabled athletes is officially named for Geoffrey Zaragoza, an Alamosa student who dealt with developmental disorders. Geoffrey was the son of renowned local track/cross country coach Larry Zaragoza, who spent 45 years coaching and won 11 state titles across the two sports.
After Geoffrey died from the effects of an enlarged heart in 2003, then-CHSAA track and field commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green renamed the Special Olympic/Paralympic 100-meter dash after him in 2004. Geoffrey was a manager for the Mean Moose, and was known for his infectious energy around the track.
Jenna Taylor said Geoffrey’s legacy lives on through the 100-meter dash and continues to prove that those with disabilities “might be different, but they’re not less.” Taylor was Zaragoza’s classmate at Alamosa. She went on to found a non-profit in Austin, Texas, called Independent Identity, a day program center for adults with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities that was born out of Geoffrey’s memory.
“Not only do people with disabilities find value in being included and treated like a person, I think everyone else gets a lot of value from being around people with special needs or disabilities,” Taylor said. “They bring a different outlook and positivity, so the community needs to learn how to interact with someone with autism, how to interact with someone with an intellectual disability.
While most of the competitors in the Special Olympic/Paralympic events embedded within the CHSAA state track program are students with intellectual disabilities, there is also a handful of Paralympic athletes. Currently, Special Olympians (also referred to as Unified athletes or adaptive athletes) compete alongside Paralympic athletes, who have physical impairments but not intellectual disabilities.
For the Paralympic athletes, at least one runner on Thursday pined for a para-specific competition at the state meet.
Banning Lewis Academy’s Jason Dunnock runs in the Geoffrey Zaragoza Paralympic and Special Olympic 100m dash during the 2024 Track & Field State Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colorado on May 16, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
“I wish it was more physical disabilities I was racing against,” said Banning Lewis Academy senior Jason Dunnock, who blew away his heat in the 100 meters alongside Special Olympics athletes and was the fastest Para athlete in the event at 14.53 seconds. “I want to run against other Para athletes and see what I can do.”
Dunnock has fanconi anemia, a rare inherited disease characterized by physical abnormalities, bone marrow failure, and a higher-than-normal risk of sickness. He had to receive a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment, and has learned to adapt to living with abnormal arms and hands.
For athletes such as Dunnock, John Register also argues the Paralympic races should be standalone, with official times and classifications as determined by the International Paralympic Committee.
Register, who has served as one of the announcers at state track for the past six years, was a three-time All-American at Arkansas who lost his left leg following an accident while training for the hurdles for the 1996 Olympic Games. After that, he became a two-time Paralympian who made the 1996 Games as a swimmer and then won a silver medal in long jump at the 2000 Games.
“I do want people to understand the difference between the two,” Register said. “Somebody might stop a race in the Special Olympics and help someone across the finish line — that ain’t happening in Paralympic sport.”
Roberts-Uhlig called the Special Olympics/Paralympics events “one of the greatest things we do here at state track,” and the rousing reaction from the grandstands during the 100- and 200-meter races backed up that sentiment.
Nick Dixon, the Unified coach for Gateway, said “the smiles at the finish line are always the most rewarding.” Dixon, who is also a paraprofessional at Gateway, wants to see opportunities for his Special Olympics/Paralympics athletes increase in coming years.
“I would like to see this sport sanctioned like Unified bowling is,” Dixon said. “I would like track sanctioned, basketball, everything our Unified athletes do be sanctioned by CHSAA. That’s the next step.”
Roberts-Uhlig says that’s an “ongoing conversation with all Unified sports” at the CHSAA level. Unified bowling was sanctioned in 2019, and several districts have Unified/Special Olympic track meets in some form.
In the meantime, athletes like Walker and Dunnock continue to embody the spirit of inclusion that’s been the case for the last 25 state track meets that have featured Special Olympic/Paralympic events.
“We get into this narrative of the overcoming story, when in actuality, we’re just allowing (disabled athletes) to do what everyone else wants to do,” Register said. “Like all high school students, they’re just trying to find themselves, and this makes it just a little bit easier.”
Fairview’s Lochlan Walker, right, win his heat during the Geoffrey Zaragoza Paralympic and Special Olympic 100m dash at the 2024 CHSAA State Track and Field Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colorado on May 16, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Two people were injured overnight in two shootings across Denver.
The first shooting happened in the 3700 block of North Peoria Street, Denver police reported at 11:28 p.m. Saturday on X.
One woman was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries and no arrests have been made, police say.
The second shooting happened at East 12th Avenue and Lincoln Street, police reported at 3:32 a.m. Sunday. One victim, an adult male, was found and taken to the hospital, according to police. The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time and no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information should contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
The quarterfinals of the Colorado high school basketball state tournaments for Classes 4A-6A take place Thursday through Saturday at Denver Coliseum. Our staff will be there throughout the weekend providing live coverage. Refresh this page for the latest updates and results.
Class 4A girls: No. 1 Holy Family (23-2) vs. No. 9 Peak to Peak (21-4)
9:11 a.m.: Wow! Triple Wow! It’s raining 3’s for Holy Family. Gracie Ward banks in a 40-footer at the buzzer and the Tigers lead the Pumas, 24-15 at the half. Tigers have made 6 of 15 3-pointers. — Patrick Saunders
9:04 a.m.: Holy Family is 5 of 9 from downtown and they lead the Pumas 21-10. We’re talking way downtown. Sophomore Enyiah Contreraz has made three 3’s. — Patrick Saunders
8:55 a.m.: Quite a contrast early on in this game. The Pumas are playing an old-fashioned post-up offense, feeding the ball inside to 6-foot-5 junior Alexandra Eschmeyer. Holy Family is trying to spread the floor. Eschmeyer already has six points (including a nice hook shot), but Enyiah Contreraz drills a 35-foot, 3-pointer at the buzzer for Holy Famil.y We’re tied, 10-10. Good game. — Patrick Saunders
8:40 a.m.: The third and final day of the Great 8 has arrived at Denver Coliseum. First up: A matchup between the defending Class 4A girls champions, Holy Family, and upstart Peak to Peak, led by Stanford commit Alexandra Eschmeyer. — Matt Schubert
Schedule and results
Class 4A boys
No. 1 Kent Denver (23-2) vs. No. 9 DSST: Green Valley Ranch (19-5), 10:15 a.m.
No. 2 Resurrection Christian (23-2) vs. No. 7 DSST: Montview (23-2), 1:15 p.m.
No. 5 Colorado Academy (20-5) vs. No. 4 Pagosa Springs (24-1), 5:30 p.m.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Nikola Jokic was in a rush to leave the building last Sunday after his sixth All-Star Game. His abbreviated version of a break was finally about to begin. But he made time for one of his biggest fans.
In the hallways beneath Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Jokic stopped to dap up Hall of Famer Bill Walton. The day before, during a public practice, Walton had sought out Jokic on the sideline to chat. Their interactions at All-Star weekend are becoming something of an annual tradition by now.
“Big man to big man,” Jokic said.
What does the 71-year-old Walton tell the Nuggets big man?
The same stuff he eagerly tells everyone else who’ll listen.
“His celebration of life through basketball, his focus on the team … he’s better than perfect. He’s Nikola Jokic,” Walton told The Denver Post. “He’s the best player in the world. I watch a lot of Denver Nuggets basketball, and every time I watch, I just get a smile on my face. It’s fantastic.”
Walton, a winner of two championships and an MVP during his celebrated but injury-shortened career, has long remained a fixture of the college and professional basketball communities. He is famous for his out-there analogies and asides while providing enthusiastic color commentary of Pac-12 games for ESPN, but he is especially moved by Jokic — so much that he’s practically a spokesman for the Serbian center. In the last year, he has raved about Jokic everywhere from The Pat McAfee Show to The New Yorker.
The admiration runs so deep that Walton needs to share it with Jokic directly, whenever possible. Whenever they’re face-to-face.
“Joy and happiness. And hope. And optimism. And purpose,” Walton said. “He plays with purpose. He plays to win the games. And he does it with beautiful style, grace, dignity, professionalism. Nikola Jokic represents the conquest of substance over hype.”
“He just told me (his) appreciation. Nice things about me,” Jokic told The Post. “I really appreciate it. Just a nice thing when a legend can talk to you. I think it’s amazing.”
As minor as their interactions might be, they’re also a window into a side of Jokic that is seldom highlighted: his respect for NBA history, particularly the Hall of Famers who dominated at the center position in the generations before him. Over the years, he has developed a mutually appreciative on-air relationship with Shaquille O’Neal, who attempts to say something in Serbian every time Jokic joins TNT’s Inside the NBA for a postgame interview.
Jokic has also grown increasingly introspective about his All-Star appearances. He said after making the team this season, “I will say to the guys in the locker room when I go there, it’s always a pleasure to be around them, in that group of people. It’s an honor and a legacy that me or the guys over there are going to appreciate when we’ve finished (our) career.”
Speaking of legacy: There’s a point Walton wants to make about Jokic’s.
Presented with the common notion that Jokic is one of the greatest passing big men of all time, Walton scoffed.
“He’s one of the great basketball players ever,” he said. “It’s a disservice to (Jokic) to limit him. He’s an incredible scorer. He’s a fantastic rebounder. He’s an incredible passer. He’s an incredible teammate. He has it all. Don’t try to limit him. Don’t try to box him in. Because with Nikola Jokic, there are no limits.”
Jokic emerged from his break (or lack thereof) by earning triple-doubles by the end of the third quarter in back-to-back games. He has shot 81.5% from the field in consecutive wins (including one over Walton’s Trail Blazers), averaging 25 points, 17 rebounds and 14.5 assists. He’s up to 122 career triple-doubles entering Sunday’s clash with Golden State.
And the Nuggets (38-19) are back within 1.5 games of first place in the West.
Consider Walton along for the ride from afar.
“You have the best basketball player in the world on your team, you’ve got an incredible fanbase, you’ve got a fantastic city, a great state, great community, great ownership in the Kroenke family,” he said. “And it’s a wonderful scenario.
“It’s a privileged opportunity to be a part of it as a fan and to see what (Jokic) and the team mean to the game of basketball. Because this team will inspire new generations of fans, of players, of business opportunities, of realization what a special place Colorado and Denver are. You know, Colorado, it’s the launching pad to the universe.”
An estimated 50,000 pro-Palestine protestors calling for a ceasefire in Gaza marched through Sydney’s CBD.
It followed a pro-Israel vigil at a separate location where Jewish leaders told a crowd of thousands there will be no ceasefire until all hostages are released.
A Palestine flag about 50 metres long was laid on the ground for people to write messages of support for those suffering in the Gaza strip.
Baby effigies wrapped up in sheets with fake blood on them were displayed around the event.
Police escorted the march through the blocked off streets.
Crowds have gathered in Melbourne’s city to mourn Palestinians killed in the Middle East conflict but many people in the community are criticising the decision to hoist up Palestine’s flag.
Nine Palestinian flags were held up at Federation Square on Friday night which enraged Melbourne’s Jewish community and other Pro Israel groups.
The Australian Jewish Association went so far as to compare it to flying the flag of the Taliban after 9/11.
The Pro Palestine organisers hit back, saying the flags were booked 12 months in advance and were originally meant to commemorate Palestine’s national day.
500 people gathered for the vigil to mourn the thousands of lives lost in Gaza.
A sinkhole has swallowed a parked car in Southport in the Gold Coast CBD. The force of water from a broken water main on Short Street shattered part of the pavement just before dawn on Thursday – a recovery crew towed the car out around 10 am.
