Last season, the Denver Nuggets swept the resurgent Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals, and they rode that momentum to claim their first NBA championship with a five-game triumph over the Miami Heat in the final round.
The Nuggets spent much of the time after their sweep of the Lakers talking trash about the Lakers. At their championship parade, their head coach Michael Malone, who was hopped up perhaps more than any NBA head coach ever, was introduced as the “Lakers’ daddy.”
Opening night pitted the two teams against each other, and it was déjà vu: The Lakers fell short in Denver, 119-107. At one point, the partisan crowd at Ball Arena chanted “Who’s your daddy?” to the visiting team.
“Who’s your daddy?” chant in Denver. pic.twitter.com/gRqwvRC81i
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 25, 2023
Although the Nuggets gained the win, they also have given the Lakers substantial bulletin board material, not to mention motivation. At the end of the day, it is on the Lakers to defeat the defending world champs when it matters, and all this trash talk could potentially end up being part of the Nuggets’ downfall in May or June.