Little time to reflect for FM's Bowen

DENVER - The day after being a part of an NBA championship, Ryan Bowen spent his afternoon … playing pickleball.

“We’re a pickleball family now,” he said, laughing.

The Fort Madison native was just a few hours removed from celebrating the Denver Nuggets’ 94-89 win over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Bowen, a former Nuggets player who is in his eighth season as an assistant coach there, spent the day trying to comprehend what had happened the night before.

“Going through the text messages today, it’s like, ‘Holy cow, we won,’” Bowen said. “Watching TV today, watching (ESPN’s) SportsCenter, it’s like, ‘That’s us. We did it.’ It’s pretty crazy.

“I’ve watched the trophy celebrations for other teams, I’ve watched the ring celebrations, and in the back of my head I wondered, ‘Will I ever get a chance to win a championship?’ You just wondered if you were ever going to be in that situation.”

That situation came on Monday night, and with it came the post-game party with a tornado of emotions.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Bowen said. “It started with the anticipation for the game last night. The game itself wasn’t pretty, but we did enough to get the job done.

“We’re shaking hands with everybody after the game. Next thing you know, they’re bringing the stage out and everything. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re about to do this, they’re about to have the trophy presentation.’ It was just cool how quickly everything was done. You’re hugging the guys, and the next thing you know, everything is there, we’re standing on stage, celebrating with the fans. That made it cool — to do it at home.”

But what made it special was a chance to celebrate with his family — his wife Wendy, his daughter Isabel, and his sons Ben and Zachary. Bowen’s brother, Tyler, also made it to Denver for the game, as did former Iowa teammate Kent McCausland.

“Being able to celebrate with the family was really special,” Bowen said. “All of the things we’ve missed over the years, it doesn’t make up for it, but it does make it feel a little better. The basketball games, my daughter graduating from college. I made it to my son’s graduation, but I didn’t get to go to his graduation party. I missed out on a lot, but to have a chance to celebrate with everybody was pretty awesome.

“Having my brother come in and be a part of it was really special. Being there with him was pretty incredible. It was great for him to be there. He’s been on this journey, too. He’s been my No. 1 fan since way back when. He’s been there from Day 1.”

Bowen, a Fort Madison High School graduate who was a four-year starter at Iowa, played 12 professional seasons, 10 in the NBA. Five of those seasons were with the Nuggets, and when his playing career concluded after the 2009-10 he went into coaching.

He spent one season as Iowa’s video coordinator under coach Fran McCaffery before working for two seasons as an assistant with the Nuggets. He spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings under coach Michael Malone, then moved back to the Nuggets when Malone became the head coach there.

“It was just how we did it here that made it special,” Bowen said. “We built through the draft, with Nikola (Jokic), and Jamal (Murray), and Michael Porter, and just staying patient with it. There was never panic, going back to when we missed getting in the playoffs in Game 82 (in 2018), to making the playoffs and losing. Going through the injuries, and coming back. It’s just really special.”

There wasn’t much time to celebrate — Bowen had to go to an NBA draft workout Tuesday morning, with the draft looming next Thursday.

“Our front office, they’ve got to get ready,” Bowen said. “They’re all hands on deck for the draft. We were giving those guys a little bit of flak, like, ‘You’re really scheduling a workout the day after?

“There’s the draft, and then there’s the Summer League. We’ll get some time off at the end of July.”

First, though, there is the team’s parade through downtown Denver on Thursday.

“I made it a point last year when the Avs won (the NHL’s Stanley Cup) — I wanted to go watch the parade,” Bowen said. “I took the kids down there, we stood in line, we watched the fire trucks go by. And the kids were like, ‘That’s going to be you next year.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know about that.’ But here we are. That’s going to be another one of those moments when it really sinks in. ‘I’m on a fire truck going through downtown Denver right now.’”

Bowen reflected on how his journey started in Fort Madison.

“I think back to everyone who had a part in it,” he said. “I think back to any coach I had, not just in high school, but middle school, too. I think back to George Wright, who started an AAU program when we were in fifth grade. Jim Decker coached us. And it went from there.

“And then in high school, Mr. (Jim) Knapp, Mr. (Mark) Bigler, Mr. (Dean) Hogan. It’s special to think about them. And I hope they know how special they were to me, all of the people along the way. It’s amazing to think that this could happen to me, and I appreciate everyone who has been there with me.”