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It’s natural for the Los Angeles Lakers to get plenty of attention considering their large market and status as one of the most successful teams in NBA history. Add the fact that LeBron James is playing there, the Lakers are always bound to be the center of basketball discussions.
The Denver Nuggets, LA’s Western Conference Finals opponent, now have to deal with these disadvantages of playing against them. Despite the Nuggets taking a 2-0 lead over the Lakers, it’s obvious that they aren’t being talked about nearly as much as the losing team.
The lack of recognition can be frustrating, especially for the likes of Nuggets head coach Michael Malone. Speaking to the media after Game 2, the 51-year old coach wasn’t happy that the Lakers have been getting more attention despite the success of his team and their best player Nikola Jokic.
“A lot of our guys and they may not admit this, you win Game 1 of the playoffs and all everyone talked about was the Lakers,” Malone said in the aftermath of the win. “Let’s be honest, the national narrative was that the Lakers were fine.”
“No one talked about Nikola (Jokic) having a historic performance,” Malone continued. “He’s got 13 triple-doubles now, third all-time. What he’s doing is incredible. The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets, the narrative wasn’t about Nikola, it was about the Lakers and their adjustments. You put that in your pipe and smoke it and come back saying ‘We’re gonna go up 2-0’.”
Mike Malone goes off on the narratives surrounding the Lakers and Nikola Jokic
“The national narrative [after Game 1] was that the Lakers were fine. No one talked about Nikola having a historic performance. The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets.”
pic.twitter.com/3beMDQfb4f— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 19, 2023
