Family ties

 They handed him the NBA Finals MVP trophy as the confetti swirled and Denver howled, and here it was, the picture-postcard moment. And also the secret, of a fashion.

In one hand, Nikola Jokic held everything he was and is and has been for awhile now, which is the best player on the planet and now, finally, a champion. 

Cradled in his other arm was everything that matters to him.

That was his infant daughter he held, wearing an NBA Champions cap turned backward that was several sizes too large for her. Somewhere else were his wife -- his high school sweetheart -- and brothers, his family. And somewhere else were Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. and the rest of the champion Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic's other family.

You want to know the Nuggets' secret, the reason they went 8-2 in the conference finals and NBA Finals, there it was right in front of you. It was a family thing.

Oh, it was Jokic and Murray and Gordon and Porter, too, and all the rest. It was Jokic becoming the first player in NBA history to lead the playoffs in points, rebounds AND assists. It was Murray becoming the first player in history history to put up at least 10 assists in his first four Finals games.

Murray finished Game 5 with 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Nuggets finished the Heat. Jokic had 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists, making12-of-16 shots. Porter added 16 points and 13 boards. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in with 11 and four; Bruce Brown put up 10 and six off the bench.

Everyone did a little something, in other words. It's the Nuggets Way, and it's the Nuggets Way because, yes, they're a family, and family needs each other, and if you do it right no one cares who fills the need or how.

The Nuggets needed Brown and Porter in Game 5, and Brown and Porter produced.

They needed Aaron Gordon in Game 4, and Gordon went for 27 points, seven boards, six assists and a steal.

On and on. And at the center of it all was Jokic, holding his MVP trophy in one hand and his daughter in the other, a unique player with unique skills and a unique way of looking at the world -- a way that centers him the way few athletic stars of his stature are centered these days.

Last night, for instance?

He didn't want to go to Disney World or a victory parade or any of that noise after delivering the Nuggets their first title in 47 NBA seasons. No, sir.

"The job is done, and we can go home now," he said simply.

No look-at-me for him. No raucous champagne showers. Instead, he greeted every Miami Heat player before joining the celebration, and that celebration -- that one last W -- meant he and his daughter and his brothers and his wife could go home to Serbia, go home to the beloved racehorses that are his true passion.

But what about the parade, Nikola?

A groan.

"No, I need to go home," he replied.

The Nuggets Way, again.