Jamal Murray has honestly reacted to the recent escalation in the rivalry between the Nuggets and Lakers after comments from both sides.
“No, that’s all for you guys. I just go play basketball and have fun.”
Jamal Murray doesn’t care about all the Lakers noise
“No…I just go play basketball and have fun”
[via @katywinge ] pic.twitter.com/PsEk29qFMF
— BASKETBALL ON 𝕏 (@BASKETBALLonX) October 23, 2023
The Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, en route to winning the 2023 Championship. Even though all four games of the sweep were competitive, it doesn’t change the fact that the Lakers failed to win a single game in that series. That gave the Nuggets a lot of confidence heading into the Finals, where they lost one game, but thoroughly dominated the Miami Heat.
The Lakers didn’t get dominated but lost out on four close games, making the team feel upset over how their season ended. This has led to sniping comments from the Lakers side that have prompted responses from the Nuggets side, creating even more hype for their opening night matchup.
Anthony Davis Got The Ball Rolling
One of the first public comments from either side in the offseason came when Anthony Davis, who wasn’t happy about how much the Nuggets were trash-talking during the playoffs and after they swept the Lakers.
“It was just a lot of talking. We get it, y’all won, but me and Bron had some conversations… we can’t wait [to play them].”
Davis was arguably the best player for the Lakers in the postseason and had to take the sweep as a personal affront. LeBron James is a little too old to carry the load of the team all the time, but Davis is in his prime years. We’ll likely see him be the bonafide No. 1 option of this squad as LeBron commits to using his incredible IQ in an off-ball sense or as a playmaker.
Davis averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.0 blocks last season.
The Nuggets Responded To Anthony Davis
The first response to what Davis had to say about the Nuggets came from their coach, Michael Malone. He essentially implied that the Nuggets are living rent-free in the Lakers’ head and they shouldn’t dwell on the loss in the playoffs.
“Oh, they’re talking about us? That was what, four months ago? I can’t speak for anybody in L.A. But if they’re still worried about us, that’s on them.”
Members of the Lakers roster are clearly looking at playing the Nuggets as not only a litmus test for their competitive hoops this season, but also to get their revenge after the playoffs. Even though Malone is trying to brush off the Laker rivalry, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has openly said that the matchup was a little personal for the franchise.
“They’re my brothers still, they know that. But we had to give them that b**t whipping. It was personal, but it wasn’t personal.”
The Lakers will have to watch from the sidelines as the Nuggets receive their first-ever championship rings on opening night. The matchup is going to be fierce, but competitive. The Lakers have a revamped roster that has better continuity and on paper, is simply better than what they had in the 2023 Playoffs.
The Nuggets have become a little more unpredictable with the departures of Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, with the team electing to replace them with youth like Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, and Julian Strawther. This will be a tall task for the franchise, so opening night may be an actually challenge for them.
Titles are won in June, so neither team will think the job is done if the season opener heads one way or the other.
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