MIAMI — Kale salad was the underdog champion for most memorable dish. What that says about the menu as a whole is in the eye of the beholder.
“Some good food,” said Jeff Green, the host of a Denver Nuggets dinner party in south Florida.
“Man, the food was phenomenal,” fellow journeyman Ish Smith confirmed to The Post.
But interjecting from an adjacent locker room stall was a straight-faced DeAndre Jordan: “The food was trash.”
Steak. Chicken. A risotto. The kale salad. It was an NBA Finals meal, not an offseason meal. Dieting matters this time of year, and as Smith pointed out, “back in the day” there wasn’t as much nutritional science being presented to pro athletes. “The older guys didn’t have the knowledge to eat better.”
Just as important as a balanced meal: Good company.
The Nuggets’ first night in Miami was spent at Green’s house, where he and his family had organized a team dinner. If the timing seems auspicious, that’s pure coincidence: “We knew we was coming to Miami to play in the Finals,” Green told The Post, shrugging. “I live here. I invited the team over.”
There was no motivational purpose behind the event, although it turned out to have that effect by pure accident. This plan was in the works before the Nuggets lost a demoralizing Game 2 at home, presenting them with their first major adversity of the 2023 postseason.
But the result of the evening was an emphatic Game 3 win in Miami, a resounding performance in which the Nuggets didn’t relinquish control like they had in the previous game.
“It was the perfect situation, the perfect timing that we needed,” Smith said of the dinner. “Coming off a tough loss. It was cool. It was a good little vibe.”
Devised as simply team bonding on the first night in Florida, Green’s get-together was quietly more therapeutic than anyone expected. It was a galvanizing distraction from the gravity of the NBA Finals, because the NBA Finals almost never got touched in conversation.
“It was light, but it was also serious,” Jordan said. “I think we’ve got a good balance on this team of being focused, serious, but also keeping it light and fun and a stress-free environment.”
Instead, teammates roamed and made light-hearted conversation with one another. Some competed on the pool table. Others entertained Green’s daughters. A big group photo was posted on Instagram by the private celebrity chef who provided the meal.
“He has a nice house,” two-time MVP Nikola Jokic said.
“He’s a guy who — he’s so professional … and that’s why he’s (stayed) so, so long in the league. Having us in his house, it’s a really nice thing of him. And hopefully one time we can come to celebrate a little bit better.”
Casual fighting words from Jokic, who dominated South Beach with the first 30-point, 21-rebound triple-double in Finals history. Jamal Murray, jokingly irritated that the house was “all the way out in Narnia,” supplied a corresponding 34-point triple-double. Even Green played his role to perfection by making both of his Game 3 shot attempts, assisting another basket and persisting as a malleable defensive matchup.
“My job is to curse everyone out,” Green deadpanned. “Make sure everybody’s ready. I think I did a good job of that. That’s how we got the win.”
Even Nuggets coach Michael Malone, the team’s actual walking swear word, was in attendance Monday night. But it was a radically different visage of Malone than the one publicly known — the coach who stomps around the court barking for timeouts. Smith went so far as to describe Malone as “chill.” On Tuesday morning, the Nuggets would refocus with a film session based on accountability. But dinner wasn’t the time for that.
“You don’t want to dwell on the loss,” Smith said. “There’s nothing we could have done about it (at dinner). As you could see, we did something about it tonight.”
If the connective tissue of a supportive team was formed at Green’s, it was reinforced late Wednesday in the locker room. As Michael Porter Jr. spoke to reporters, he lamented his own struggles in the midst of the team’s success. Aaron Gordon was walking by.
“Think about how great you’ll be when you get your powers back from the MonStars,” Gordon told Porter with a smile, referencing the movie “Space Jam.”
If levity at dinner worked wonders on the team as a whole, maybe it will do the trick for Porter, too.
“We just needed to be around each other,” Smith said. “Hang out. Comradery. Laugh. Joke. Enjoy each other.”
Finally, Jordan conceded at his own locker: “The kale salad was fire.”
