Getty Head coach Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets.
The Los Angeles Lakers will get a rematch of their Western Conference Finals matchup against the Denver Nuggets in the 2023-24 regular season opener.
The stakes are not as great but that did not stop Lakers star Anthony Davis from letting it be known the Lakers heard of the talking the Nuggets did in the days after their NBA Finals victory and that he and LeBron James are eager to exact revenge.
“Oh, they’re talking about us? Yeah, that was like four months ago? I can’t speak for anybody in L.A. I can speak for 17 players on our team, 18 players now in our group,” Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said via DNVR_Nuggets on X on October 4. “But, if they’re still worried about us, that’s on them. This is a new season, new challenge.”
Davis was not shy about taking issue with the remarks, many of which came from Malone.
Mike Malone’s shirt at the Nuggets championship parade 😅
Bringing back his quote from the Lakers series 👀
(via @nuggets)
“It was just a lot of the talking … going on,” Davis said via Spectrum Sportsnet on October 2. “All right. We get it. Y’all won. But … me and Bron had some conversations just like, ‘We can’t wait.’ … We feel like that we had enough to win. Obviously, we were climbing an uphill battle for two months trying to make it to playoffs. But it’s a lot of motivation.”
Nuggets’ Mike Malone: Lakers Played ‘Hell of a Series’
Malone gave the Lakers credit for their fight in the series, though he did make note of the series’ 4-0 final tally.
“It was a hell of a series against them,” Malone said. “I know it was a 4-0 sweep. But all those games seem like they went down to the wire. … We have tremendous respect for that team. I have tremendous respect for Darvin Ham as a coach and the job that he did.”
The Nuggets coach insists he isn’t concerned with what Davis or any other Lakers are saying.
“I don’t listen to any of that stuff. I don’t know what they’re saying. And, if we’re on their minds, then I guess that’s on them,” Malone said. “I don’t welcome it or not welcome it. I’m on 2023-24. I’m not living four months ago.”
Mike Malone: Lakers-Nuggets ‘Not a Rivalry’
For all of the hype around this game, Malone downplayed it, saying he didn’t think the two teams were rivals.
“It’s not a rivalry,” said Malone. “You can’t play a team in the Western Conference Finals twice in the last couple years and think it’s a rivalry. … When I think of rivalries, I think of Boston-L.A. I think of the Knicks and the Miami Heat back in the day. “
The two non-rivals will square off three times this coming season.
After they meet as part of the NBA’s season-opening double-header on October 24, they will not meet again until February 8, and then again on March 2. Both games will be in Los Angeles and could have larger implications than the opener with playoff seeding potentially at stake by that point in the season.