The thing about the Nuggets as champions: They never need to say, “We are the best.” Everybody knows it. Contrast them with the Lakers, who are like the kid in high school who gives himself a nickname.
All the Nuggets do is win. All the Lakers do is whine. And the Lakers don’t discriminate. LeBron James railed on the replay center after the Game 2 loss, wondering why they even bother looking at contested plays. Then Anthony Davis questioned his team’s game plan, leaving coach Darvin Ham saying the two would have to agree to disagree. And I haven’t even mentioned D’Angelo Russell eating and appearing to check his cell phone during a fourth-quarter timeout in the Game 3 defeat.
It should make us all savor the Nuggets more. They delight in crushing dreams. They offer a daily reminder of what can happen when nobody cares who gets the credit. It should always start with Nikola Jokic. But his selflessness, instead, defines this team. Guys know their roles, so they don’t have to slow their rolls.
This entire series has been an indictment of the Lakers’ bench, of a lacking supporting cast when Davis gets into foul trouble or LeBron runs out of gas. The Nuggets, meanwhile, keep overcoming 10-point deficits without Jamal Murray simmering because Michael Porter Jr. keeps hitting shots and Aaron Gordon remains one of the league’s most underrated players.
Time to put the Lakers out of their misery. I thought it would take five games. Forget calling the Nuggets the Lakers’ Daddy, just call Denver the Legion of Broom.
The Rockies lineup is poorly constructed. The team doesn’t walk, strikes out too much and has less power than a moped. The Rockies enter the weekend having trailed in their first 26 games, a streak topped only by the 1910 St. Louis Browns. …
Atlanta taking quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is difficult to reconcile. The Falcons guaranteed Kirk Cousins $100 million in March, then drafted his replacement in April. You like that? I can assure you, Cousins did not. …
The Orioles optioning baseball’s top prospect Jackson Holliday to Triple-A is a reminder that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Holliday, 20, had two hits in 34 at-bats with 18 strikeouts. The Orioles are going for it this season, preventing them from showing patience. Holliday will figure it out, but we will not see him again until July. …
At what point does Kevin Durant’s legacy get dinged by playoff failures? Durant is a walking bucket. But his chance to go down as a top-10 player of all time vanished when he went to Brooklyn and Phoenix instead of staying with Golden State. …
Anthony Edwards might be the NBA’s most dynamic player. Edwards vs. Murray and Gobert vs. Jokic? Yes please. …
A Charlotte restaurant with a sense of humor featured a sign that read “Please Let the GM and Coach Pick This Year.” It was a shot at Panthers owner David Tepper, who overruled his football staff and selected Bryce Young last year instead of C.J. Stroud. Tepper went to the restaurant to figure out who was responsible for the sign. No need to wonder why the Panthers are a mess.
Mail Time
Is there any possibility of Zach Wilson being traded for a draft choice? The Broncos could eat his salary, which would be far better than the Rockies deal for Nolan Arenado.
— Robert Emmerling, via Twitter
Wilson is older than Bo Nix by six months and is entering his fourth NFL season. He still has upside. The Broncos will let this play out and see who makes the team between Wilson and Jarrett Stidham. The Broncos can save $5 million in cap space if they cut Stidham, leaving him vulnerable in training camp.
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