With an NBA title officially under his belt, Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone has earned the right to talk an appropriate amount of trash. But before his team finished its climb up the NBA’s tallest summit, Malone made a lot of headlines for what he believed was a massive disparity in coverage between the Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers.
On Wednesday, in a reflective appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Malone showed he hasn’t entirely forgotten how the Lakers seemed to draw so much attention away from a team that swept them in the Western Conference Finals.
When asked about the Nuggets’ new place as kings of the West (and the league), Malone appeared to make a not-so-subtle joke about LeBron James. The Lakers star, of course, had rather convenient rumors about a possible retirement right after the Nuggets qualified for the NBA Finals.
And Malone seemed so delighted to talk about his own rather convenient “retirement.”
"I'm thinking about retiring" 😂😂😂
Michael Malone #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/A0SwkxufQc
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 14, 2023
Man. I can’t remember the last time James and a team he played for were the likely butts of a low-hanging fruit joke like this. For Malone’s sake, if the Nuggets continued dominating the West and the league in the years to come, I don’t think he’ll have to worry about Denver lacking a requisite spotlight anymore.
This was how Twitter reacted to Malone's retirement joke
Malone firing shots at Lebron… We’re really here. The once lowly Denver Nuggets are top dawg https://t.co/GzveT0EwgG pic.twitter.com/9caTN8EXRT
— Witz Fox (@Joppa_witz) June 14, 2023
Legend https://t.co/mfCp3CIzc3
— Football (@BostonConnr) June 14, 2023
This guy is awesome https://t.co/37EvGkXTVQ
— Robert Sparks (@TBRobS17) June 14, 2023
People on the outside think he’s obsessed. People in Denver love a coach who hates the Lakers. https://t.co/NpjuIyUW0F
— Brendan Vogt (@BrendanVogt) June 15, 2023
People are mad he’s still got the Lakers in mind and they live rent free on his head but forget how many narratives were going in favor of the Lakers throughout that series that “they figured them out” until they got swept. https://t.co/Pw7NoaxgY9
— Hamza (@hammytakes) June 15, 2023
This might be the most petty coach we’ve had in the last thirsty years. https://t.co/p0OPcHlOhN
— Rod (@rodimusprime) June 15, 2023
Legendary run by Michael Malone in the last 2 months https://t.co/3hiMenf7B6
— Jamal McMurray (@JamalMcMurrayy) June 15, 2023
Spicy Malone is my favorite Malone. Incredible. https://t.co/L0rZHmFxmR
— Nick Hertzog (@NickHertzogInc) June 15, 2023
Lakers vs. Nuggets on opening night. Book it. 🍿🔥 https://t.co/GTtxG1nhvu
— James M. (@santimags3) June 15, 2023
