The Los Angeles Lakers made it a lot further than anyone expected last season. It seemed unlikely that the team would even make the playoffs when the season started, especially after a 2-10 start to the regular season.
However, the front office was able to reshape the roster at the trade deadline and the end result was fantastic. Los Angeles was able to get into the NBA Play-In Tournament and went through the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors with relative ease.
The miracle run would end there as the Denver Nuggets swept the Lakers in a series that was a lot more competitive than the 4-0 tally indicates. Los Angeles was in each of those games with Denver simply executing better down the stretch to steal four wins.
But that is not how Bruce Brown saw it play out. The former Nuggets guard, who is now with the Indiana Pacers, recently supplied a bit of revisionist history during an appearance on the ‘Run Your Race’ podcast.
Bruce Brown on the Nuggets’ championship:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 18, 2023
“I’d say our toughest series was Minnesota. Suns were blowouts each game. With the Lakers, we never felt like we were gonna lose any game. Even when they went on a little run, it never felt like we were gonna lose."
(via @TidalLeague) pic.twitter.com/Buj8w0xwY7
Look, the Lakers may have been the only team that got swept but all four of those games were close. Want to call the Phoenix series the toughest because they were the only team to take two games? Fine. But to call the Minnesota series the toughest of the bunch? That is ludicrous.
Bruce Brown gives the Lakers even more bulletin board material
There has been a weird trend with those associated with the Denver Nuggets since winning the title. Despite accomplishing the ultimate goal in the NBA and cementing their legacy forever, the Nuggets have been more interested in talking about the Lakers.
Michael Malone was very vocal about beating the Lakers and has taken shots at the team (and LeBron James) since. LA even came up during the team’s championship parade in Denver! Talk about living rent-free.
This garnered a response from Darvin Ham and it is clear that he and the team is not happy about it. There has been no humility from the Denver side and best of all, the Nuggets aren’t even a Lakers rival. If the Celtics wanted to celebrate a big win over Los Angeles then great, that makes sense. But the Nuggets pretending like there is a rivalry there is silly.
Denver was the better team in the Western Conference Finals but to pretend like LA wasn’t in any of those games is absurd. The purple and gold have spent this summer getting better while their foes have spent the summer talking about them. We’ll see how that plays out next season.