Coming into the Western Conference Finals matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers all of the attention was on the purple and gold. It wasn’t too surprising given the national brand that they are, but the Nuggets were going to do their best to gain some respect from those that cover the NBA.
Denver head coach Michael Malone touched on how the teams were being covered earlier in the series. He wasn’t a fan of it being so Lakers-centric as people focused on how they could come back from a 1-0 series deficit, not how his team went out and took an early lead.
“The national narrative [after Game 1] was that the Lakers were fine,” Malone said. “No one talked about Nikola just had a historic performance. … The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets.”
That narrative didn’t change much despite the Nuggets continuing to roll as they won Game 2 and took a commanding 3-0 lead after the series shifted to Los Angeles. However, we got some insight into why the national media may be like that from sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
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Earlier in the series when making an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Salters revealed a shocking admission. Salters, who is a mainstay as a sidelined reporter in the NBA for national telecasts, said she is only now getting familiar with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
“I have never seen him play before. I haven’t done a game here in Denver. It’s been at least 10 years. Maybe I had a game of theirs in the bubble. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to watch him play.”
Using some nuance, Salters likely meant that she had never seen him play in person. For someone whose job it is to cover the NBA, that is a shocking admission and plays into what Malone was saying about the narrative surrounding the series. If one of the best sideline reports in the league hasn’t seen Jokic play, how many people in the media haven’t as well?
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Salters has seemingly watched from afar as a fan, as she shared she’s aware of all his statical achievements and awards, but it goes to show that Malone was onto something. His team is using that disrespect to have a chip on their shoulder as they look to put the Lakers away Monday night and advance to the NBA Finals.
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