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New Nikola Jokic mural going up in Denver's RiNo arts district, showing the MVP's "iconic pose"

New Nuggets mural going up on side of a building in Denver showing Nikola Jokic
New Nuggets mural going up on side of a building in Denver showing Nikola Jokic 00:58

The Nuggets are getting ready for their first game of the Western Conference Semifinals this weekend, and there's now one more way Denver fans can get excited.

A new mural is taking shape in the RiNo arts district of star center Nikola Jokic. Gus Reynolds painted the mural on the side of a building near the intersection of Larimer Street and 29th Street. It's not quite done yet, but Reynolds says he has logged about 40 hours over the course of five days working on it.

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CBS

"The Nuggets are in the playoffs, so timing is great to put up a Nuggets mural," Reynolds said. "I do a lot of basketball illustration work and I make a lot of basketball posters for Nuggets gamedays and it just felt like the perfect time to put it on a larger scale."

Reynolds' mural depicts what he calls Jokic's "iconic pose."

"He shoots kind of funky. He shoots way over his head, and I think it's a really identifiable pose for him specifically," he said.

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Gus Reynolds looks at his new mural of Nikola Jokic on Friday.   CBS

At Nuggets practice on Friday Jokic was asked what he thinks about the several murals around the Mile High City in which he is featured.

"I think it's really cool as long as they don't get in trouble, but I think it's cool, why not? As long as I look good," Jokic joked. "I'm a good-looking guy."

In the case of Reynolds, there won't be any getting in trouble. He got permission from the owner of the building to create the mural.

"It feels good to be able to use my art abilities to make something a little bigger than just my sports passion," said the lifelong Nuggets fan.

Reynolds isn't getting paid in any way for the mural, and he says he didn't have to buy too many new art supplies.

"I had some extra paint," he said.

Although he has been getting lots of great feedback from people passing by already, he's looking forward to when Jokic (hopefully) is named the NBA's regular season MVP for the third time so he can add his final touch: an MVP marker down the left side of the image.

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