Apparently, not everyone enjoyed Michael Malone’s antics during the Nuggets run to a championship. In fact, the head coach got under the skin of arguably the biggest name in sports.
According to a report in Lakers Daily, LeBron James wasn’t happy with the way Malone carried himself during the Western Conference Finals. Specifically, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer didn’t like the methods the coach used to motivate his team.
“According to Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, James is irate at Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone for whining about what he perceived as too much media focus on the Lakers and taking jabs at the four-time MVP in the process,” the article said.
Throughout the series between Denver and L.A., Malone repeatedly used press conferences to complain about the lack of attention bestowed upon his team.
Malone kept at it even after the Nuggets swept the Lakers.
That didn’t seem to sit well with James.
“In conversations with people, I can tell you that LeBron was very pissed with what Michael Malone said about him,” Robinson told Lakers Daily. “From folks I have spoken with, that he is one of the many motivators going into this season.”
I guess that means James isn’t retiring after all. He hinted that he might be done with basketball during his postgame press conference following the sweep. It was a move that stole some of the spotlight from the Nuggets, something Malone also took aim at during his media circuit.
A rivalry between the Nuggets and Lakers is brewing. On-court battles get it started, but off-court drama fuels the fire.