On Monday, GM Calvin Booth and the Nuggets completed a four-game sweep of the Lakers with a 113-111 victory to advance to their first-ever NBA Finals.
The journey continues 🚗 pic.twitter.com/hy0mKXANDD
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 23, 2023
The Nuggets are run by former Penn State forward Booth, who has been the general manager since 2020 after serving as assistant GM under Tim Connoly.
Denver posted a Western Conference-best 53-29 record during the regular season led by two-time NBA MVP center Nicola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray, who are combining to score 57.7 points per game this postseason. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Pheonix Suns each in six games before sweeping the Lakers.
Booth drafted Michael Porter Jr. with the 14th overall pick in 2018 and acquired key pieces in Bruce Brown, Arron Jordan and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope along the way.
Booth played at Penn State from 1995-1999, coming out of Ohio’s Groveport Madison High School where he was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 1998 and made second-team All-Big Ten in 1999.
Booth was selected in the second round with the 35th overall pick by the Washington Wizards in the 1999 Draft and played ten seasons in the league for the Wizards, Mavericks, 76ers, Bucks, Kings, and Timberwolves.
Booth’s son, Carey, was Penn State’s top Class of 2023 signee. The four-star from New Hamphsire’s Brewster Academy was the second-highest-rated signee in Penn State history per 247Sports, behind only Tony Carr.
But then, the coach that recruited Booth to Penn State, Micah Shrewsberry, left for Notre Dame.
Carey Booth requested a release from his letter of intent the night after that announcement, and ended up deciding to follow Shrewsberry to South Bend.
The NBA Finals will start June 1. The Nuggets will either host the Miami Heat or travel to Boston to play the Boston Celtics.
Twitter: @bwalkerdadon
