What has struck me about Sean Payton’s tenure as coach of the Broncos is how quiet it has been. No stories about how he is buddies with the players or his special football analytics. It feels — dare I say — adult?

— Brennan, Brooklyn

Kiz: When the Broncos blundered by hiring Nathaniel Hackett, it couldn’t have been much worse if general manager George Paton had put a starry-eyed ball boy in charge of our local NFL team. As is often the case after a failed hire, the pendulum has swung dramatically in the other direction. Payton carries himself like a gridiron king. He’s supremely confident and domineering. Dare I say arrogant? Reminds me more than a little of Mike Shanahan. Does the way Payton conducts his football business guarantee the Broncos will get back to the Super Bowl? No. But it gives the team a shot it never had with Hackett. Clown time is over at Broncos Headquarters.

Rockies manager Bud Black has a great job with great pay and no pressure to win. What’s not to like?

— George, sounding envious

Kiz: Stuck with lousy talent and beset with bad injury luck, Black will somehow manage to avoid losing 100 games this season. Some baseball diehards around won’t like this opinion, but he’s the best manager in franchise history.

To revere Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is to celebrate his intensely self-deprecating nature, best expressed in the circumspect expression on his face when asked questions by the media that make clear that Joker has no reference for our established sports standard of self-aggrandizement. We see him hold his head as he wrestles through the mundanity of a press conference, the part of his job he must surely like the least, always conducted in a language not his own.

— Steve, Melbourne, Australia

Kiz: When Patrick Roy and John Elway walked in the room, it filled with their athletic arrogance before they uttered a word. Jokic strikes me as more like Todd Helton or Joe Sakic, who acted as if they could keep their Hall of Fame talent a secret.

I took offense from your comment about faker Lakers fans driving their Teslas back to Highlands Ranch. It definitely wasn’t because I’m a Lakers fan (never have liked them), but because I’m a diehard Nuggets season ticketholder that drives a Tesla back to Highlands Ranch after games. Close to me lives another couple of diehard Nuggets fans with a Tesla.

— Linda, south of 470

Kiz: Driving a Tesla? My, my, my. Nuggets fans in our dusty old cowtown are getting boujee, aren’t we?. And no offense, but … Highlands Ranch might be just south of Denver, but the vibe is only one exit away from Orange County.

And today’s parting shot is taken by a rebel in the lost time zone, with her sights set on the mothership.

After listening to the ESPN telecast of the Western Conference finals between the Nuggets and Lakers, I am salty. The broadcasts say literally nothing, about the Nuggets. They are too busy picking their jaws off the floor every time the Lakers touch the ball.

— Laurie, someone’s No. 1 fan

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