SAN DIEGO — Known figures in the world of basketball and beyond to whom various Nuggets players have been compared this week: Larry Bird, Ricky Rubio, Marco Polo.
The latter wasn’t so much a basketball comp as a spiritual one, drawn across centuries. Michael Malone was discussing the adventurous qualities of Aaron Gordon after one of Denver’s training camp practices. “That guy, he’s like Marco Polo, man,” Malone said. “World traveler.”
The other two comparisons were all about hoops, although one was several measures more reasonable than the other.
No, the Larry Bird bond was not referring to Nikola Jokic.