After the Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals to the Denver Nuggets, LeBron James showered Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets with a lot of praise for the two-time NBA MVP.
James said the 2023 Nuggets are the best team he’s faced since coming to the Lakers in 2019.
“Me and AD were just talking in the locker room for a little bit. I think we came to the consensus, this is one of the best teams, if not the best team, we’ve played together for all four years,” James said. “Just well orchestrated, well put together. They have scoring. They have shooting. They have play-making. They have smarts. They have length. They have depth.
“And one thing about their team, when you have a guy like Jokic, who as big as he is but also as cerebral as he is, you can’t really make many mistakes versus a guy like that,” James explained.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Nikola Jokic & Denver Nuggets Updates
The Nuggets swept the Lakers to advance to their first NBA Finals. Jokic averaged 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 11.8 assists in the series.
“And even when you guard him for one of the best possessions that you think you can guard him, he puts the ball behind his head Larry Bird style and shoots it 50 feet in the air and it goes in, like he did four or five times this series,” James said while laughing. “So you do like this to him [tipping cap].”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Nikola Jokic & Denver Nuggets Updates
The Lakers had no answers for Jokic and Jamal Murray. James did all he could to keep the Lakers’ season alive by scoring 40 points in Game 4. However, Los Angeles blew a 15-point second-half lead.
“I mean, of course, that’s human nature when you’re a competitor,” James said. “Obviously frustrated. Not being able to close out one of these games where you were in every game. You know, two games in Denver, two games here, were winning [in] every game. We were up 15 at the half. They hit us with a 36-point quarter, took momentum of the game.
“We still had an opportunity but just couldn’t make plays down the stretch,” James explained. “That’s the frustrating part. You tip your hat to them. Like I said, it’s a great team.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Nikola Jokic & Denver Nuggets Updates
James told Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and Dave McMenamin of ESPN that he might retire from the NBA this summer. The Lakers obviously won’t be title contenders without LeBron.
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