{"id":705191,"date":"2026-04-08T12:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705191\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:35:13","slug":"nuggets-aaron-gordon-is-an-aura-curator-teammate-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705191\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon is an ‘aura curator,’ teammate says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cam Johnson<\/a> hasn\u2019t been here for long, but it only took him a few pregame introductions to pick up on who the fan favorite is in Denver<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been especially obvious lately. The crowd\u2019s pop for Aaron Gordon<\/a> has been louder than ever since he returned from a nagging hamstring injury in March, breathing new life and renewed precision into the Nuggets.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time he gets announced in the starting lineup, the arena erupts, you know what I mean?\u201d Johnson said, laughing. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool. You\u2019ve gotta love that stuff, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Gordon is a willing recipient of those eruptions. He plays it cool. He cooks up individualized handshakes with his teammates. He gives the fans flashy dunks and gritty defensive stops to show his appreciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an aura curator,\u201d Johnson said \u2014 a winking reimagination of the Gen Z colloquialism \u201caura farmer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s usually intended as an insult. Only those who are desperate to seem cool would manufacture or farm aura. But to curate it, the 30-year-old Johnson implied \u2014 he and Gordon are both Millennials, ironically \u2014 is more respectable. Less forced. Or something like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe likes it,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe just loves to play into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon approves of the label.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I curate the vibes, man,\u201d he said. \u201cI bring the vibes. It\u2019s just nice to be back out there with the guys. \u2026 They hear my voice so much when I\u2019m off the floor, so it\u2019s nice to kind of show them what I\u2019m talking about when I\u2019m on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting Gordon to the finish line<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s absence has often defined the Nuggets\u2019 season, but his presence has stamped two of their most resilient wins of the year<\/a>. With Monday\u2019s overtime win against the Trail Blazers, they improved to 26-9 when he\u2019s available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Aaron plays,\u201d coach David Adelman said, \u201cwe\u2019re a very different basketball team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaking off a momentary limp in the second half last Saturday, Gordon played a season-high 41 minutes in Denver\u2019s 136-134 triumph over the Spurs, highlighted by his two game-saving defensive possessions. One was against De\u2019Aaron Fox, a 6-foot-3 guard and two-time All-Star. The other was against Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 center and MVP candidate.<\/p>\n

No other sequence this year has better encapsulated why the Nuggets desperately need Gordon healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely one of the most versatile defenders in the league,\u201d Nikola Jokic said. \u201cHe can guard multiple positions. \u2026 Hopefully we can stay healthy, and he can perform like that in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jokic was practically pleading to the basketball gods. To secure that win over San Antonio, the Nuggets tempted fate by blowing past a minutes restriction Gordon was supposed to be operating under. It was only the third time he surpassed 35 minutes this season, and the first time he exceeded 40. He had reported tightness in his left calf six days earlier<\/a>. Then there were his knees, which got banged up from a handful of collisions throughout one of the most physical games of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna be in these Normatecs for the next 36 hours,\u201d he had joked, referring to the compression equipment athletes use for recovery. How he and the team handled the next game against Portland would be crucial.<\/p>\n

This all led to Monday, another average night for the cardiac Nuggets. As they climbed back from down 16 in the fourth quarter, Gordon had been suitably protected for the first three quarters with only 18 minutes played. Now he was unleashed. Planting himself in the corner, he drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:13 remaining, a go-ahead shot with 27 seconds left then another go-ahead triple to start overtime.<\/p>\n

Another clutch barrage from the Nuggets\u2019 third scoring option, the one who gave them two playoff game-winners last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI date myself all the time and I go back to Orlando, and it\u2019s like a completely different fundamental set of how he shoots the ball,\u201d coach David Adelman said. \u201cIt\u2019s effortless. It\u2019s calm. Even though he\u2019s athletic, he doesn\u2019t have to jump high to shoot it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you get labeled when you come into the league,\u201d Jamal Murray added, alluding to Gordon\u2019s fading reputation as a non-shooter. \u201cYou get labeled a certain way. And then they act like you don\u2019t get better, you know? You spend 10, 15 years in the league, and you haven\u2019t gotten better at anything. So it\u2019s just a testament to his work ethic, his confidence, his ability to adapt and sacrifice for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even within the scope of an individual game, Adelman\u2019s planning right now tends to revolve around getting Gordon to the finish line \u2014 and not only for health reasons. San Antonio was a perfect example. Jokic was guarding Wembanyama to start the game. Gordon was on Stephon Castle. The Nuggets did a lot of switching on screens, which risked giving up mismatches. Adelman and Jared Dudley had their reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though sometimes it didn\u2019t go well with Wemby, it\u2019s because you\u2019ve gotta give Aaron the full-throttle fourth quarter,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cHe\u2019s gotta be able to play with fouls and play aggressively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished. Gordon got up in Wembanyama\u2019s space and made the superstar uncomfortable on the last possession of regulation. He successfully contested an awkward shot from the baseline as time expired. Denver\u2019s win streak would have fizzled out if not for the timely stop, even if it didn\u2019t appear on Gordon\u2019s box score like his 23 points Monday. The impact against San Antonio was more intangible.<\/p>\n

Call it aura.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what he brings to the table every day,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen it comes to somebody like Wemby where (Gordon) can just use his strength, use his positional size, it makes it really a lot more difficult on him. So he was locked in. \u2026 That\u2019s gonna be such a special part of what we do going forward and in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cam Johnson hasn\u2019t been here for long, but it only took him a few pregame introductions to pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[877,7,1828,765,250,301,187,3943,766,1035,762,165,252,6,253,302,66,409,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-705191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-aaron-gordon","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-cam-johnson","11":"tag-colorado","12":"tag-david-adelman","13":"tag-denver","14":"tag-denver-nuggets","15":"tag-denvernuggets","16":"tag-front-range","17":"tag-injury","18":"tag-jamal-murray","19":"tag-latest-headlines","20":"tag-more-nuggets-news","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-nikola-jokic","23":"tag-nuggets","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-trade","26":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116369118258174954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}