Western Conference rival has ‘heard’ Denver Nuggets’ consistent chirping

The Denver Nuggets’ opening night matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers keeps getting more and more interesting. On Tuesday, Lakers guard Austin Reaves added some extra fuel to the fire, when he acknowledged some of the “obvious” chirping done by the Nuggets this summer.

“I think everybody knows it was pointed at us,” Reaves said (h/t Dave McMenamin). “They can do it indirectly if they want, but I think it was very obvious to the public eye, that’s why everybody was talking about it. You see stuff. Me personally, I try my best to stay off social media.”

Denver had some fun after sweeping L.A. in the Western Conference Finals last spring. Head coach Michael Malone was sick of the narrative being centered around the Lakers and took those frustrations out a bit as his team prepared for the NBA Finals.

“If anybody is still talking about the Lakers in the NBA Finals, that’s on them,” Malone told reporters on May 26. “They’ve gone fishing, we’re still playing.”

Lakers star Anthony Davis also has the Denver Nuggets on his mind

Reaves wasn’t the only member of the Lakers to name-drop the Nuggets this week. Star big man Anthony Davis also had some words for the reigning champs.

Davis explained that he and LeBron James are eager to get the chance to square off against Denver later this month.

“It was just a lot of talking and all of the ‘Lakers are dead.’ We get it y’all won,” Davis told James Worthy. “Me and [LeBron James] had some conversations, like — we can’t wait [to play Denver].”

Fans won’t have to wait long to see the two sides square off. They’ll be tipping off the 2023-24 NBA season on Oct. 24.