Fans aren’t exactly buying the Denver Nuggets’ attempt to rebrand themselves for the playoffs.
The No. 4 seed Nuggets hosted the No. 5 seed LA Clippers for their first-round playoff series opener on Saturday. The game was held at Ball Arena in Denver, where the Nuggets decided to use a rather interesting slogan.
Both the Jumbotron in the arena as well as the T-shirts that were handed out to fans displayed the message “We Believe.” Take a look below.
The slogan “We Believe” is usually associated with teams who are heavy underdogs. It was made famous by the 2007 Golden State Warriors, who memorably knocked out the No. 1 seed Dallas Mavericks as the No. 8 seed in the first round of the playoffs that year.
Fans promptly roasted the Nuggets online for trying to make use of the motto for themselves, noting that Denver is the higher seed in the playoffs this round and that they employ the consensus best player in the world in three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets also won 50 games this season and won the NBA championship less than two full years ago.
Of course, Denver has had their fair share of turmoil this year, most notably their recent firings of both head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth (of which more unsavory details have trickled out in recent days). But hardly anybody is buying their attempt to paint themselves as some kind of underdog this postseason that nobody believes in.
