Don't look now, but the Nuggets and Lakers might be developing an actual throwback NBA rivalry. We all know about the potshots that have come from both side, beginning during the Nuggets' sweep of L.A. in last season's Western Conference finals and continuing throughout the summer.
Mike Malone took a shot at LeBron James bringing up his potential retirement after the Lakers lost in the Western Conference finals, which was never going to happen but perhaps succeeded in taking some of Denver's shine away. LeBron clapped back.
Perhaps the most memorable jab came when Nuggets announcer Vic Lombardi introduced Denver coach Mike Malone at the championship parade by saying: "He came into this world as the son of a coach, but in these playoffs, he became the Lakers daddy!"
On Tuesday, as the Nuggets were wrapping up their 119-107 victory on opening night, the Denver crowd took pleasure in serenading the Lakers with a perfectly petty "Who's your daddy" chant.
Anthony Davis didn't like the initial daddy dig, so he certainly couldn't have appreciated this one.
"It's very motivational," Davis said of the word war with the Nuggets earlier this month at Lakers media day. "I mean, obviously KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope] is my guy so you kind of congratulate him, like 'you got this one.' But it was just a lot of like, the talking, and 'the Lakers dad.' There was just so much of that going on; it was like 'All right, we get it, y'all won.' But me and [Le]Bron had some conversations like, 'We can't wait.'"
Davis got his chance on Tuesday, and he promptly put up zero second-half points as he was thoroughly outplayed by Nikola Jokic, who finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Which is to say: the Lakers need to stop worry about whatever the Nuggets are saying. They're the champs. They can say whatever they want. If the Lakers want to put a stop to it, they need to do so on the court.