Denver Nuggets Home Opener at Ball Arena: Worth the Hype?

The 2022-2023 season felt different before it even started. Jamal Murray was back after missing basically all of the previous season with a torn ACL. Michael Porter Jr. was back after his own injury saga. And Nikola Jokic was coming in as a two-time MVP. I'm not usually someone who gets swept up in pregame energy, but this one had a different charge to it. Walking into Ball Arena for the home opener, you could feel that something had shifted — this wasn't a rebuild season, this was a "we might actually do something" season.

The Scene Outside Ball Arena

Downtown Denver on game night has its own rhythm. The stretch around Ball Arena fills up a couple hours before tip, and the home opener draws people who don't show up for a random Tuesday game in February. Families, longtime fans, people who clearly hadn't been to a game in a while. The energy was real without being overwhelming. I got there early enough to watch the crowd build, which is honestly one of my favorite parts of any big game experience. There's something about watching an arena fill up that doesn't get old.

Walking In

Getting inside Ball Arena for a game like this, the atmosphere does the work for you. The building wasn't new to me, but the vibe for a home opener with this particular roster felt worth documenting. Murray's return alone was enough to bring a different energy into the building — that guy is electric and Denver fans genuinely missed him. Seeing his name and number up on the screens during warmups, hearing the crowd react, that was a real moment. Same with MPJ. When you've watched players grind through rehab and come back, there's a layer of investment that makes the crowd response feel earned.

What the Night Was Actually Like

Pregame is its own thing. The warmups, the music, the way the arena staff builds toward tip-off — Ball Arena does this reasonably well. The Nuggets production crew knows how to build a room. The Jokic MVP highlight packages got the crowd going. If you're someone who shows up right at tip and skips all of that, you're leaving something on the table, especially for a night like this. The home opener ceremony, the introductions — these things hit differently when the roster is one people are genuinely excited about.

The one honest thing I'll say: downtown parking and the general logistics of getting in and out of Ball Arena on a high-demand night are exactly as annoying as you'd expect. If you're driving in, budget extra time. The light rail option is straightforward and honestly the move if you're coming from anywhere along that corridor. It's worth planning ahead instead of just showing up and figuring it out.

The Bigger Picture

What drew me to document this specific game was the combination of factors that made it feel like a turning point. Denver doesn't always get to have a "we're legitimate contenders" moment. The city has been patient with this Nuggets roster through injuries and slow builds. The 2022-2023 home opener was the first real public declaration that the full version of this team was back on the floor, and the crowd understood that.

Ball Arena holds around 20,000 for basketball and when it's close to full for something people care about, it's a solid place to watch a game. The sightlines are good from most sections, and the building has enough history at this point that it doesn't feel sterile. It's a functional, solid NBA arena — not the most glamorous in the league, but it works.

Worth Going?

If you're a Nuggets fan and you haven't been to a game at Ball Arena, a home opener or a marquee matchup is the right entry point. The everyday regular season experience is fine, but catching the team on a night when the crowd is invested and the stakes feel real is a different experience. This home opener was that. Murray back, MPJ back, Jokic doing Jokic things — it was a good night to be at the arena.