Denver Nuggets superfan Vicki Ray excited to attend her first NBA Finals
For decades, Vicki Ray has supported the Denver Nuggets through good times and bad times. Now she's excited to be attending her first NBA Finals.
"I've been waiting 32 years for this," she said.
Sometimes it has taken a lot of patience (like the 1997-98 season when the team only won 11 games) but she has always been there inside the stadium in Denver in her seat near the tunnel where the home team enters and exits.
While many see the Nuggets as a team, for Vicki, they are family.
"They high-five me, and when they're leaving they either hug me or high-five me or squeeze my hand," she said, referring to the players coming onto or off of the court at Ball Arena.
The team also supports her in more ways. Vicki's husband passed away in 2016, and the team paid tribute to him in a Nuggets program.
"He would be so excited (about the team's success this year). He started me on all this," referring to her impressive collection of Nuggets memorabilia.
Current and former players including Eduardo Najera also reached out to her after she had a stroke.
"Najara keeps in touch with me. When I had a stroke he called me two or three times," she said.
Ray says the moment the Nuggets made franchise history last month by winning the Western Conference Championship "was amazing."
"I was crying," she said.
For this month's upcoming home games in the series against the Miami Heat, Ray says she'll be ready.
"If the game's at 7 p.m. I'll leave this house before 3 p.m. and I'm there before 4 p.m. and in line, first, every game," she said.
As for who's going to with the NBA Championship? Ray is calling it for her team.
"I prefer it be 5 (games) so I can watch it (in person) but I'll take the sweep," she said with a smile.
