In a chat with the media ahead of the latest rematch against the Lakers, Nuggets coach Michael Malone spoke candidly on what’s different about the Purple and Gold since replacing Darvin Ham with head coach JJ Redick.
“Different players, different coaches. There’s a lot of change within the Lakers,” said Malone via Daniel Starkand. “They’re a different team. JJ is coaching them and his fingerprints are all over this team. They’ve added another MVP candidate in Luka and the most amazing thing about the trade is just how the Lakers defense has gone almost to the top of the charts. They play small, they play athletic, they play a lot of versatile guys and they’re just really disruptive on that end of the floor. You have to be able to counter that.”
Last Friday (March 14), the Nuggets beat the Lakers at Ball Arena in a narrow five-point victory. LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Rui Hachimura were absent in the game but the Lakers still put up a good fight with 37 points from Austin Reaves.
Missing most of their starters, the Lakers were major underdogs for the start but they managed to go toe-to-toe against the Nuggets until the final possessions of the game. Michael Malone was less than pleased with his team’s effort, going so far as to crumple up the stat sheet after the game.
The Nuggets and Lakers have an extensive history that goes back as far as 2020. The Lakers defeated the Nuggets that summer en route to winning the title but it was just one of several playoff matchups. Ever since that series, the Nuggets have had the Lakers’ number, eliminating them in back-to-back years (2023 and 2024) in the NBA postseason.
Of course, during most of their previous matchups, the Lakers were a completely different team. They had LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and head coach Darvin Ham leading the way. Ham was notoriously out of touch in the locker room and the players turned on him before he could finish two seasons on the job.
The Lakers fired Ham over the summer and (after a failed pursuit of Dan Hurley) settled on former league sharpshooter JJ Redick. While JJ had no experience on the job, his basketball knowledge was put on full display thanks to his ‘Mind the Game’ podcast with LeBron James.
There was much doubt about Redick at first, but he’s proven himself as a worthy coach for the Lakers. Besides knowing how to keep a healthy relationship with his players, Redick has constructed an expert coaching staff that he constantly works with to develop strategies and plans for particular games.
Redick has an actual system in place and he’s working with the players to ensure that everybody understands their role and proper positioning on the court.
The results have been pretty great for the Lakers, who are currently fourth in the West at 42-25. The difference between last year’s Lakers and the current Lakers team is massive and the Nuggets may find out first-hand just how dangerous this new-look squad can be.
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