I often wonder how most NBA centers feel when they play against Nikola Jokic. You get to hear how they’ll portray it to the media with words like “he’s special”, or “he’s impossible to find a weakness in”, but never really get to hear the rat-brain emotions sitting behind that. Stuff like…

“That’s embarrassing to compete against”
“I just got my ass handed to me on national/regional television”
“How in the blue-blazing f— is that guy THAT much better than me?”

Which are often the thoughts I end up having about D-Line.

That came out wrong. Let me back up a tick.

D-Line, or Eric, or Denver Man, depending on how you’ve gotten to know him, is the driving force behind the designs you see on all the DNVR merchandise (truly go check it out, the artistic sensibilities are ridiculously great AND diverse), and his stuff shows up on Nuggets/Denver sports fans across the country, and even on a runway on occasion…

(photo credit: John Nacion/WireImage, shown in People Magazine online)

I have that recently-related sense of envy for Eric, as I spent several years of my career being paid as a graphic designer. I took it seriously. I knew my Pantones and my font-families to a near-pathological degree, and turned out some work over the years I was deeply proud of. But similar to a couple of professors and co-workers I simply had to tip my cap to over time, you also just know when someone has “it”. And in this case, Eric has it in spades. His work is always compelling, beautiful, well-thought, and on point. With the popularity of it all, DNVR has found their merchandise in big name places like Scheels and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Not bad for a guy who started out selling his merch outside stadiums. Moreover, D-Line is just a damned fine human who gives of his time and knowledge as quickly as he does his talents, always giving coaching and feedback to the other folks around All-City who are looped into the zillions of graphics that a sports media empire needs to generate and throw away like a digital Etch-a-Sketch. He’s one of those lovely human beings you couldn’t dislike if you tried. So I’ve never tried. I’ll show you a few examples of his work as we keep going along. If you’re unfamiliar, you’ll see what I mean.

Believe it or not, the point of this exercise is not a envy/compliments-to-D-Line article though, though I have often wondered if he has any psychic abilities as well, as the regular member of the DNVR Nuggets podcast also seems to have some insight into how this Nuggets preseason is kicking off, with messages from the past showing up now in work he did clear back in their championship season (and beyond). Let me show you what I mean about the overlap with the current team vibes and a few of his bestsellers…

Since we’re speaking of vibes, let’s talk about how truly immaculate the vibes from San Diego have been thus far from the team. To a player, they are coming off the courts communicative, excited, and pumped up from the level of play and competition they are seeing in the gym. While it’s easy to say, “that is how it feels every year before you hit a moment’s hardship”, that has not necessarily been the case the last couple seasons since the championship. The players came in both years looking like the weight of the world was on their shoulders before they actually had the target on their backs. The change in personnel both on and off the court has energized the team, including the two new elders of the team, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. While the pair have long been the leaders of the team, they have always had some sort of mentor shepherding them clear back to Mike Miller and Jameer Nelson, and clear through to DeAndre Jordan.

The voices that will now carry the clearest in the room by far belong to the gents who have spent the last decade (or so) climbing the ladder for this squad. While both will have some moments of turmoil to negotiate in the upcoming year, they both seem prepared… hell, energized to be shouldering that load. Their job now is just to make sure everyone is good. Speaking of…

It was incredible to hear from Cam Johnson with the Nuggets crew from camp this week, and one of the beats he kept hitting was how talented the team is coming out of the gates, how many of the guys are playing well on both ends of the floor, and how much that raises the level of competition in the room. You can just hear it all for yourself if you have a worthwhile hour:

But it’s not just Cam talking this talk. Aaron Gordon’s post-practice presser after day 3 hit the same beats. Jonas Valanciunas as well. Bruce Brown, Jamal, Joker too. All talking about how they are keeping each other honest with the level of play on the floor. If iron gets to spend the season sharpening iron here, Denver will be must-see basketball all season long. The players aren’t out-and-out saying they are going to run roughshod this year, but you can sense the barely-contained glee in their comments. And of course, so much of that keeps circling back to their three-time MVP, Jokic. Cam mentioned how he’d thought he was prepared for the Jokic experience, and has still been surprised.

You saw this one above on the Broadway Opening Red Carpet shot, but after what probably should have been his fifth straight MVP, Joker went to not-even-Wilt levels, and became the first non-guard to average a triple-double over the course of a season. Joker is widely acknowledged to be the best player on the planet, even if somehow not the most valuable. Nikola has entered camp seeming more comfortable and at-ease than he ever has, which is saying something given his easy-going nature. He is as talkative and communicative as he’d been during the last quarter of last season, but also joking and spending time with players across the squad. Interview after interview, behind the scenes video galore, even the many still photos of his camp already show a happy, calm, focused Jokic. Every year the media says he’ll have a hard time improving on his previous season. While that math is inevitable, it’s also the last thing on Jokic’s mind. He sees a team he can win with, and that is the one metric he concerns himself with on the court.

So… wherever D-Line is hiding his crystal ball, you should pay attention to the not-so-hidden messaging on the next Nuggets t-shirt that gets published. And the next. The vibes are immaculate, all the Nuggets are good, and their uncommon leader looks to only be wheeling out yet another level. I’ll wear all the t-shirts, thank you. Especially if the guys get to wear another ring.