Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.
NBA media day is in the books, training camps are underway and basketball is back in the headlines.
One of my biggest takeaways from all the hoopla and player interviews this week is just how damn salty the Los Angeles Lakers are about their Western Conference Finals loss to the Denver Nuggets. Or, more specifically, the swipes some people on the Denver side took at them after going on to win the NBA title.
Anthony Davis called all the talk “very motivational.”
“It was just a lot of like, the talking. It was just so much of that going on,” Davis said Monday on Spectrum Sportsnet. “Like, alright, we get it, y’all won. But me and [LeBron James] had some conversations like, ‘We can’t wait.'”
Austin Reaves said similar things Tuesday, addressing some of the comments that came from Denver.
“I think everybody knows it was pointed at us,” he said. “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.”
Have the Lakers heard the Nuggets chirping since they won the championship? Austin Reaves: “I think everybody knows it was pointed at us” pic.twitter.com/PAHrwekZlx
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 3, 2023
It’s unclear which exact comments set off the Lakers, but the chirping began even before their series loss, when Denver was leading 2-0 and head coach Michael Malone called out the media for continuing to spin a narrative about the Lakers. And he wasn’t wrong about that, but it continued from there.
After the Nuggets won the title, Malone was introduced at the parade as “the Lakers daddy.” Then, Malone mocked reports that LeBron James was considering retirement by joking on the Pat McAfee Show that he was thinking about retirement.
Apparently while all of us were laughing and allowing the Nuggets to enjoy their moment, the Lakers were keeping receipts. Now, they can’t wait to embark on their own title run and ruin the Nuggets’ ring ceremony on opening night to get it started.
To be clear, Malone and the Nuggets earned the right to talk whatever smack they wanted to because they won the championship, and they swept the Lakers on the way to that title. But I am very much here for the Lakers taking it all personally. They should. This is the type of stuff rivalries are built on, and we don’t get too many good rivalries in today’s NBA with all the player movement that happens.
The Lakers and Nuggets have now met in the conference finals twice in the last four years, with each team winning a series and going on to win a title that same year. The teams and their respective stars are very familiar with one another, and now they have added smoke to bring into this new season. I can’t wait to see how that plays out on the court. It may not be Lakers-Celtics or Bulls-Pistons, but it’s quickly becoming one of the best rivalries of today’s NBA. This season can cement it as the best.
Nikola Jokic is back on the clock
As much as the Lakers have apparently thought about the Nuggets, it’s highly unlikely Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has given as much thought about them.
I’m not even sure Jokic is happy to be back in the United States after appearing to have the time of his life celebrating back home in Serbia. Just look at how dispirited he looked arriving for media day.
Nikola Jokic is back in the states pic.twitter.com/V0soheCxho
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 2, 2023
The nonchalant walk. The fake smile that just screamed “here we go with this again.” The dude looks like he doesn’t want to be there, and judging by his response to a question Tuesday about all the fun he had this summer, he doesn’t. Because apparently he didn’t have all that much fun this summer, not relative to what he’s used to anyway.
“Because we played 2 1/2 extra months,” Jokic said. “It was good, but I had summers that I had more fun.”
Nikola Jokic on if this was the most fun he’s ever had in a summer:
“Nah, I think it’s actually opposite… We played 2 and 1/2 extra months." 😂
(via @9NEWSSports)pic.twitter.com/UVMcKpaEwd
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 3, 2023
Cool. So, Jokic is back in his normal ornery mood. Excellent. Bring on the Lakers.
Shootaround
— James Harden is back with the 76ers for training camp
— Stephen A. Smith said Harden talked himself out of a max deal with the Rockets
— Chris Paul may not mind coming off the bench for the Warriors
— Joel Embiid intends to play in the Olympic and we’ll know who he’s playing for soon
OK, ya’ll. That’s it from me. Catch you next week.