Darvin Ham says it ain’t over with ‘Lakers Daddy’ Michael Malone

Ah the Denver Nuggets, they’ve spent the entire day living firmly rent-free in the Los Angeles Lakers heads, just as the Mile High City crew has done ever since sweeping LeBron James’ SoCal squad out of the postseason.

While the war on the hardwood was won decisively by the Nuggets en route to a title, the war of words is apparently still being fought. That battle of the barracking which started way before the series as Denver targeted Los Angeles, has continued on with the losers.

On Wednesday, James admitted he wouldn’t be retiring after all, meaning either in the moment when his season was over the Nuggets made him want to quit, or that he was so sour he felt he needed to take away the attention from his foes. His former coach Michael Malone, the leader of the Nuggets has happily made fun of that whole situation all the while not disputing that he’s the Lakers daddy.

The Lakers coach was on the This League Uncut Podcast earlier this week where this conversation with Chris Haynes took place.

Haynes: Mike Malone did a lot of celebrating…

Ham: Oh, wow. You’re gonna bring up Money Mike, man? The Lakers’ Daddy? That’s what they call him now? The Lakers’ Daddy?

Haynes: I guess you can talk when you win a championship.

Ham: God bless his soul. This s*** ain’t over. God bless his soul.

The Lakers have reloaded this offseason but some have said the Nuggets haven’t had a great summer. But nobody in Denver cares, the rest of the league has a lot of catching up to do to reach the Nuggets who steamrolled through the postseason. And the Lakers have an aging star, an unreliable one and a bunch of role players on a team that just got swept by the champs—a lot of catching up to do.

But hey, Ham said on the podcast that Austin Reaves will be an All-Star so maybe the Lakers will go 98-0 en route to a 2024 championship. Maybe, just maybe. Or you know, the best starting five in basketball, led by its best player gets even better and runs it back behind a league and opponents who are already giving them plenty of fuel.

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