The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the past two seasons facing the harsh reality that Nikola Jokic has learned from the 2020 experience. After overwhelming Jokic and defeating the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, Los Angeles has fallen to its rival in two consecutive playoff series.
Between 2023 and 2024, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets by a combined margin of 8-1 across two series that provided crushing defeats at the hands of a team they thought they had the better of.
Since 2020, Denver and Los Angeles have both won a championship and made an additional Western Conference Finals appearance. The difference between the two sides is on display every time they meet, however, and a former Lakers and Nuggets player has thrown salt on that wound.
In a recent appearance on The Draymond Green Show, Caldwell-Pope explained how surprised the Nuggets were to defeat the Lakers in 2024 due to how exhausted they were heading into the series.
"You know how like, towards the playoffs guys get their rest. But I felt like that’s where we spent most of our energy and time trying to get that first place and playing catch-up. And then we get to the playoffs, we have no gas. We felt like the Lakers should have beat us. We was down every game. At least 10, I think the highest maybe what, like 20-something? Just taking that energy and using it there so it was a lot that went into that season that we wish we could've did better."
It's disappointing to hear that the Nuggets were gassed, yet the Lakers still couldn't get the better of them in a series they had ample opportunities to win.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope thought Lakers would beat Nuggets in 2024
Caldwell-Pope has seen both sides of the Lakers-Nuggets rivalry. He helped Los Angeles defeat Denver en route to the 2020 NBA championship, and was on the Nuggets when they took down the Lakers in both 2023 and 2024.
Those experiences provide Caldwell-Pope with a unique perspective, especially when considering the fact that Anthony Davis and LeBron James were on all three of those Lakers teams.
Much around Davis and James has changed, but the expectations remain high with two All-NBA players. Unfortunately, the Denver series in 2024 speaks to the level of dysfunction that prevented the Lakers from realizing their potential against a weakened opponent.
Los Angeles led at halftime in each of the four games that Denver won, and were up by as many as 20 points in Game 2—which ended 101-99 in the Nuggets' favor.
To make matters worse, Caldwell-Pope was the exact type of player Los Angeles needed in both of the series it lost to Denver. Unlike many of the Lakers who struggled over the past two postseasons, Caldwell-Pope is the type of player who can still provide positive value when his shot isn't falling.
The fact that the Lakers traded Caldwell-Pope for Russell Westbrook throws another mound of salt on an already agonizing wound.
Davis averaged 27.8 points, 15.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.6 blocks on 63.4 percent shooting from the field during the 2024 series. James tallied averages of 27.8 points, 8.8 assists, 6.8 rebounds, 2.4 steals, and 1.0 block on 38.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Throw in the fact that Denver was gassed, and it's becoming even more difficult to process how Los Angeles lost that series—and if keeping the current roster together is truly the best idea.