Michael Malone hasn’t forgotten about LeBron trying to steal his spotlight.
When the NBA world should have been focusing on the Denver Nuggets sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers and advancing to their first NBA Finals in franchise history, LeBron James stole the spotlight by announcing he was contemplating retirement.
And Malone wasn’t so pleased with the timing.
“Speaking of the Lakers, I just want you guys to know — this is breaking news — I’m thinking about retiring so don’t tell anybody,” Malone said jokingly Wednesday on the “Pat McAfee Show.”
The eighth-year Nuggets coach is just coming off his first NBA title and is on cloud nine but he hasn’t forgotten James trying to take away a moment that he knows all too well, having been to 10 Finals himself.
During the postgame press conference, James took the sports world by storm by announcing that his time in the NBA might be coming to an end.
“I got a lot to think about,” James said after being swept by Denver. “Just personally, with me moving forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about.”
For Malone, the attention on the Lakers was irksome — even after entering the postseason at the top seed in the West with the two-time reigning NBA MVP in Nikola Jokic.
“The frustration of that series of against the Lakers is, we win Game 1 against the Lakers and the headlines are ‘Lakers figure out Nuggets’ — and we’re up 1-0!” he said. “You win the series and the narrative is the Lakers, Lakers, Lakers. I think we’ve done enough to hopefully put the Denver Nuggets in people’s minds and their hearts … if they don’t, we don’t give a s–t.”
Malone’s trolling continued on Thursday at Denver’s championship parade, donning a “Put this in your pipe and smoke it” T-shirt, referencing a testy exchange with reporters following that Game 1 win over James’ Lakers.
It seems the rest of the Nuggets are with their coach — especially after his repeat guarantee
“What a great day to celebrate a championship, but we’re not done yet,” he said from the back of his parade float. “We some greedy bastards, baby. We’re getting another one!”