Denver Nuggets owner and close talker Stan Kroenke doesn’t understand microphones

Stan Kroenke, your Denver Nuggets were just crowned champions after defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, tell the world how it feels!

After Denver won Game 5 of the NBA Finals to earn their first championship in franchise history, ESPN’s Lisa Salters interviewed Kroenke as he accepted the Larry O’Brien Trophy. But the interview got a little awkward when the 75-year-old sports owner appeared to forget about the amplifying capability of a microphone. Instead of telling the world how it feels to be champions, the Nuggets owner only seemed interested in sharing his emotions with Salters.

Kroenke attempted to combat the rabid crowd noise by awkwardly getting closer to Salters, bypassing the microphone to talk in her ear. Which would be fine if they were having a personal conversation, but ESPN wanted Kroenke to broadcast his comments to the crowd and the national TV audience, not just Salters. Eventually, ESPN cameras cut away from the close talker to show Finals MVP Nikola Jokić.

Salters handled it like a pro, continuing the interview and trying to hold the microphone in front of Kroenke despite the awkward lean in. It was loud in the arena, maybe Kroenke was just prioritizing Salters hearing his answers and forgot about the audience. He doesn’t do interviews regularly, although he does accept championship trophies regularly. Four of Kroenke’s teams have won championships in the last two years.

The Nuggets won the NBA Finals in 2023, the Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI, the Colorado Avalanche were Stanley Cup champions last year, and the Colorado Mammoth won the National Lacrosse League championship in 2022. That’s an unbelievable run. And even if Kroenke doesn’t understand sound energy, he should be used to accepting trophies in front of noisy crowds by now.

[ESPN on ABC]