Michael Malone and the Denver Nuggets are on top of the basketball world right now. That doesn’t mean Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has to be happy about it.
Ham made a recent appearance on the “#thisleague UNCUT” podcast with Chris Haynes and Marc Stein. Towards the end of the episode, Haynes made mention of Malone and how much celebrating he did after Denver’s title run. That led to Ham expressing ire over one of Malone’s new nicknames: Lakers’ daddy.
"You bring up Money Mike, man? The Lakers' daddy, right? That's what they call him now? … God bless his soul. This sh*t ain't over."
Lakers coach Darvin Ham sends a warning to Nuggets coach Michael Malone 👀
(via #thisleague UNCUT, @ChrisBHaynes & @TheSteinLine) https://t.co/iwplpJsSYm pic.twitter.com/0X3Slbd3we
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 14, 2023
“You bring up Money Mike, huh? The Lakers’ daddy, right? That’s what they call him now? The Lakers’ daddy? … God bless his soul. This s–t ain’t over. God bless his soul,” Ham said.
The “Lakers’ daddy” nickname appeared to originate from the Nuggets’ championship parade last month. Altitude Sports broadcaster Vic Lombardi was heard hyping up Malone with a WWE-style introduction that included the moniker.
Darvin Ham’s response to Michael Malone being dubbed the Lakers’ “daddy” 😅
(via @ChrisBHaynes, @TheSteinLine) pic.twitter.com/2qrcrFmP52
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) July 13, 2023
The Lakers hardly put up a fight against the eventual champion Nuggets during their Western Conference Finals matchup last May. Malone was on record after Game 1 of that series expressing frustration over how much media attention LA was getting despite trailing in the series. Malone’s Nuggets used that motivation to fuel a clean 4-0 sweep.
It’s clear that there was animosity built up between the two sides during the series, with potentially some spillover for next season.
