The Denver Nuggets swept the Los Angeles Lakers in last season’s Western Conference finals en route to their first-ever NBA championship. After clinching the world title, and even before doing so, they spent a lot of time talking trash to and about the Purple and Gold.
Head coach Michael Malone whined a lot about the supposed disproportionate media focus on the Lakers as opposed to his team, even after it had put the Lakers away for the summer. He then strutted around like a peacock on steroids during Denver’s championship parade.
In addition, Bruce Brown, a key reserve on last year’s Nuggets, said the Minnesota Timberwolves, their first-round opponent, and not the Lakers were their toughest playoff opponent.
More recently, Denver guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who won a ring with the Lakers in 2020, said his current team “had to give them that butt whooping” (h/t Lakers Daily).
“We had to give them that butt whipping”.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope talks about the fun rivalry with his former Laker teammates.
Hear more from Nuggets camp: https://t.co/XWDtRPHnwv@nuggets | @NBA | @SiriusXMSports | @CaldwellPope pic.twitter.com/FNaU1rxCxG
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 22, 2023
LeBron James was asked about all this trash talk and when he will respond. He said, “There will be a time,” but that the time isn’t now.
LeBron James generally took the high road today when asked about any comments made by the Nuggets this summer motivating him going into opening night in Denver. But he vowed “there will be a time” when he will respond to all of his detractors. pic.twitter.com/zfHGUQjAON
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 21, 2023
One thing a team in the Nuggets’ position should never do is give a team such as the Lakers any added motivation or bulletin board material, especially since the Lakers seem equipped and very capable of knocking off the Nuggets in this season’s playoffs.
The two teams will kick off the regular season on Tuesday in the Mile High City after the Nuggets receive their 2023 world championship rings in front of their fans.
