While the Denver Nuggets might’ve not seen many awards come their way this past season outside of a couple of All-NBA nods for their top two stars in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, their G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, definitely made their mark with a select few end-of-season honors. Per an announcement from the NBA on Thursday, the Grand Rapids Gold were not only able to secure the 2025-26 G League Franchise of the Year, but Steve Jbara, the founder and president of the Gold, got his third-consecutive Executive of the Year award as well. The Nuggets got a congratulatory message from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, giving the Gold and their leadership a ton of credit for the mark they’ve made both this season and throughout the past three years entirely. A special message from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. 🏆 2025-26 NBA G League Franchise of the Year⁰🏆 Steve Jbara, Executive of the Year (3rd straight) Thank you to everyone who helped make this season one to remember. pic.twitter.com/RWOTcCfTDN — Grand Rapids Gold (@NBAGrandRapids) June 4, 2026
Grand Rapids Wins Franchise of the Year… But What Does it Mean?
The award for Franchise of the Year isn’t exactly based on team performance. In fact, when looking at the Gold’s regular season, they weren’t quite the cream of the crop, as they were tied with the second-worst record in the G League at 11-25. Instead, the NBA defines the criteria for the winner as a franchise who best embodies the G League’s values and “demonstrates excellence” across multiple areas of business, including ticket sales, partnerships, marketing, merchandise, and broadcast. In those areas, Grand Rapids was able to shine in a major way. The Gold led the G League in total gate receipts this past season (the total revenue made from tickets), set a franchise-record year for partnership sales, and also ranked second in the league for attendance. With those marks being set, it was enough to give the Gold their first-ever honors of being the Franchise of the Year, which pairs with Steve Jbara’s third-straight Executive of the Year trophy. Congratulations to our Team President, Steve Jbara, on becoming the first-ever three-time consecutive NBA G League Executive of the Year. A well-deserved honor recognizing his leadership, innovation, and impact across our organization. 👏🏆 pic.twitter.com/OfKuLfm85d — Grand Rapids Gold (@NBAGrandRapids) June 4, 2026 Following the announcement, Gold team president Jbara would also give a statement on getting the recognition. “It’s an incredible honor for our organization and a reflection of the work our staff, partners and fans have put in all season,” Jbara said about the awards. “This recognition speaks to the momentum we’re building in Grand Rapids and the standard we’re committed to raising every season.” In terms of on-court performance, there were a few standouts for the Gold despite being one of the worst teams in the league in terms of their win-loss record. A total of three players who played a minimum of eight games had averaged 20 points or more throughout the year, led by center Moses Brown, who set a team-high in points (21.3), rebounds (11.7), and blocks (1.7). Nuggets former first-round pick, DaRon Holmes, also performed relatively well in his short nine-game sample size for what was his first full season back from his ACL tear in 2024. He averaged 20.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and over a steal per game. The last time the Gold were able to see their record creep over the .500 mark was back in 2022. Next season, they’ll be hoping to turn things around on that end. But at the very least, business clearly still seems to be booming despite the wins being few and far between. Sign up for our free Denver Nuggets On SI newsletter, and get breaking Nuggets news delivered to your inbox daily! Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollowSource link
