The Los Angeles Lakers might be thinking about the Denver Nuggets this week. Still, the Nuggets’ coach, Michael Malone, said the defending NBA champions have nothing but respect for the Lakers and have moved on from being swept by L.A. in the Western Conference playoffs.
Malone was asked on Wednesday about how some Lakers have talked about his team this week and how Malone and the Nuggets have kept them inspired all summer with their trash talk.
“Oh, they’re talking about us? That was what, four months ago?” Malone said after practice at the Nuggets’ training camp at U.C. San Diego. “I can’t speak for anybody in L.A. But if they’re still worried about us, that’s on them.
“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. We have tremendous respect for that team. I have tremendous respect for Darvin Ham as a coach and the job that he did. 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.”
There will be more excitement than usual when the Nuggets and Lakers play their first game of the season on Oct. 24 in Denver. During Monday’s media day, Lakers star Anthony Davis told Spectrum SportsNet that the bad talk from the Nuggets after they swept the Lakers was “motivating.”
“There was just so much of that going on,” Davis said. “It was like, ‘All right, we get it, y’all won.’ But me and [LeBron James] had some conversations like, ‘We can’t wait [to play them again].'”
Malone said that during the Western Conference playoffs, the story was much more about the Lakers than about the Nuggets. After the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the conference finals, Malone was asked if he thought the Miami Heat would overshadow the Nuggets in the Finals, like how he felt about all the talk about the Lakers during the conference finals.
“If anybody is still talking about the Lakers in the NBA Finals, that’s on them. They’ve gone fishing. We’re still playing,” Malone said before the Finals.
During the title parade in Denver, Malone was called “the Lakers’ daddy.” Also, during an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Malone joked that he was thinking about retiring after the win. This was in response to James telling ESPN during the summer that he was thinking about retiring.
Bruce Brown, a former Nuggets forward who signed with the Indiana Pacers as a free agent over the summer, said on the “Run Your Race” podcast in July that in the conference finals against the Lakers, it “never felt like we were going to lose any game.”
“I think everybody knows it was pointed at us,” Lakers swingman Austin Reaves said of the Nuggets’ comments after Tuesday’s practice. “They can do it indirectly if they want, but I think it was very obvious to the public eye. That’s why everybody was talking about it.”
James wrote on Instagram in June, without mentioning Malone by name, “I hear I’m on your mind that much, huh? I guess I can see why… Enjoy your light, but don’t forget that I’m the SUN.”
The next month, Ham appeared on the podcast “This League Uncut” and said, “This s— ain’t over.”
Malone didn’t waste any time telling reporters on Monday that Denver is putting last season behind them and focused on trying to do it again. On the other hand, the Nuggets will get their rings and raise the championship banner one more night before playing the Lakers in the first game of the season.
Malone said there isn’t a growing rivalry between the Lakers and the Nuggets, even though they have met twice in the Western Conference playoffs since 2020.
“That’s not a rivalry,” Malone said. “I mean, you can’t play a team in the Western Conference finals twice in the last couple of years and think it’s a rivalry.
“When I think of rivalry, I think Boston-L.A. I think of the Knicks and the Miami Heat back in the day. But I don’t welcome it or not welcome it [with the Lakers]. I’m on 2023-’24. I’m not living four months ago.”
