Lakers News: LeBron James Applauds Nuggets After WCF Series Sweep
All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James was (relatively) gracious in defeat last week, when he gave the Denver Nuggets their flowers for sweeping LA during their Western Conference Finals rematch this season. The two clubs previously faced off in the West's third round circa 2020, which Los Angeles won 4-1. This near, the Nuggets won in four games, and now advance to their first-ever NBA Finals appearance.
This time, Denver was the dominant team, against a slightly past-their-prime James and Anthony Davis, plus an all-new supporting cast of younger Lakers.
"One of the best, probably the best team we've played since we've been together for our four years," James raved of Denver. "They're just well orchestrated, well put-together. They have scoring, they have shooting, they have playmaking, they have smarts, they have length, they have depth."
James gave a special shout-out to All-NBA Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, a two-time MVP winner in 2021 and 2022.
"One thing about their team: when you have a guy like Joker, who as big as he is but also as cerebral as he is, you can't really make many mistakes versus a guy like that," James continued. "Even when you guard him for one of the best possessions that you think you can guard him, he puts the ball behind his head Larry Bird-style and shoots it Larry Bird-style... shoots it 50 feet in the air and it goes in. I think he did it like four or five times in this series. So you do like this [literally tips his cap] to him."
James then went on to tease his own potential retirement after 20 legendary NBA seasons, quickly stealing the thunder from the Nuggets' achievement in the post-Western Conference Finals media cycle.
The NBA Finals kick off tomorrow, between the Nuggets and the Miami Heat, LA's foe in 2020.
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