'We can't wait': A timeline of the tension between Nuggets and Lakers
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Anthony Gharib, ESPN
There’s no love lost between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers as they face off Saturday for the first time since their first-round series last season.
It’s been an entirely one-sided matchup in recent years — the Nuggets have won 12 of the past 13 matchups against the Lakers. Denver’s dominance includes seven straight in the playoffs, though that total is far from the longest playoff losing streak against a single team in the past 20 years.
Even though they faced off in the 2020 Western Conference finals, the bad blood between the Nuggets and Lakers began in the 2023 Western Conference finals and carried over.
Here’s a timeline of the trash-talking between Denver and Los Angeles.
‘Would rather be up 1-0 than down 0-1’
In Game 1 of the 2023 Western Conference finals, the Nuggets defeated the Lakers 132-126, but the discussions after the game irked Denver head coach Michael Malone.
Los Angeles decided to put Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic in the second half of Game 1, an adjustment that boosted confidence for the Lakers. However, in between Games 1 and 2, Malone downplayed the move.
“Much [is being] made of them putting Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic,” he said. “Like we have never seen that before.”
Malone went even further and spoke about the narrative that the Lakers had momentum heading into the next game because of the tweak.
“There’s this kind of discussion being based [on that] even though the Lakers lost, they’re walking out of here, they think they’ve got something,” he said. “I’ll bet you every red penny I have that [Lakers coach] Darvin Ham would rather be up 1-0 than down 0-1.”
‘So, you put that in your pipe, you smoke it’
Malone’s comments about Hachimura didn’t stop once Game 2 arrived.
The head coach continued to attack the adjustment made by the Lakers, saying it’s the first time he’s been up 1-0 and “the series is over in everybody’s mind because they put Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic for six possessions.”
Jokic had a strong Game 2, recording 23 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists in the win. It was the two-time MVP’s 13th playoff triple-double — the third most of all time.
But, Malone didn’t think his star got enough credit nationally. In his mind, the conversation, especially after Game 1, still centered on the Lakers.
“What he’s doing is just incredible, but the narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets. The narrative wasn’t about Nikola,” Malone said. “The narrative was about the Lakers and their adjustments. So you put that in your pipe, you smoke it, you come back and you know what, we’re going to go up 2-0.”
“The national narrative [after Game 1] was that the Lakers were fine. … No one talked about Nikola just had a historic performance. … The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets.”
– Nuggets HC Michael Malone pic.twitter.com/zUSjByjZMf
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 19, 2023
He took more shots at the Lakers when the Nuggets advanced to the Finals. He said that if anybody was talking about Los Angeles being in the NBA Finals, “that’s on them.”
“They’ve gone fishing. We’re still playing,” Malone said.
‘I’m thinking about retiring’
The Lakers were still top of mind in the days after the Nuggets’ championship.
During his appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” the day after Denver clinched the title, Malone poked fun at LeBron James‘ comments that he might consider retirement. Malone’s comments prompted a response from James, who posted on Instagram the day after the championship parade that he is “the SUN.”
While the Nuggets took the stage at their parade, the team’s TV reporter and host Vic Lombardi proclaimed Malone as the “Lakers’ daddy.”
“He came into this world as the son of a coach, but in these playoffs, he became the Lakers’ daddy,” Lombardi said.
Malone made noise during the parade, too, wearing a T-shirt with his “put it in your pipe” quote.
Confirmed: Parade ready 😤 pic.twitter.com/Iho6GBFSiu
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 15, 2023
‘This s— ain’t over’
Ham caught wind of the “Lakers’ daddy” moniker, making his thoughts known when Malone’s name came up while on the “This League Uncut” podcast in July 2023.
“Oh, wow. You’re going to bring up Money Mike, man? The Lakers’ daddy? That’s what they call him now? The Lakers’ daddy?” Ham said. “God bless his soul. This s— ain’t over. God bless his soul.”
‘We can’t wait’
When media day for the 2023-24 season came around, the Lakers took their time to respond to the Nuggets’ comments.
Anthony Davis called the trash talk motivational, revealing that he and James had conversations about it during the offseason.
“There was just so much of that going on it was like, ‘All right, we get it, y’all won,'” he said. “But me and Bron had some conversations like, ‘We can’t wait [to play them again].'”
Austin Reaves went a step further, saying after the Lakers’ first practice of training camp that indirectly or not, “everybody knows” Denver’s talk was pointed at them.
With a matchup against the Nuggets on opening night, Reaves said it added something extra to the game.
“You see stuff,” Reaves said. “Me, personally, I try my best to stay off of social media and not look at all that stuff. To me, I go play every game the way I’m going to go play the first game against them. But I think it adds a little bit of motivation to go play really well. That’s really it.”
However, during Denver’s training camp, Malone downplayed the offseason chatter and said that he’s not living “four months ago,” while also noting he has tremendous respect for the Lakers and Ham.
“This is a new season, a new challenge, and it was a hell of a series against them. I know it was a 4-0 sweep, but all those games seemed like they went down to the wire … But yeah, I don’t listen to any of that stuff. I don’t know what they’re saying, and if we’re on their minds, then I guess that’s on them,” he said.
