That was fast. The Denver Nuggets are now waiting for the NBA Finals to start after they brushed away those Los Angeles Lakers in a surprising sweep. Both teams shared a lot of connections, so it was normal to think that their familiarity with one another would lead to a more competitive series. Let us recap and see how interlaced these teams were.
The Coach
Coach Darvin Ham’s career started in Denver way back in 1996. He played 35 games for the Nuggets, with the last of those games being against the Lakers. He would play for five more teams before becoming an assistant coach in the NBA G League. After a few years, Ham became an assistant coach for the Lakers for the 2011-12 season but left the following year. He came back last year but this time as the head coach.
The Assistants
We have at least two connections here when it comes to assistants. First is the “Michael Malone to LeBron James” connection. During their days in Cleveland, Malone was an assistant coach, while James was the most popular Cavalier. Second, is the “Chris Jent to Malone” connection. Both were assistant coaches for Cleveland, and Jent was an assistant to Malone when Malone was the head coach for the Sacramento Kings. Jent right now is an assistant for the Lakers, while Malone is leading the Nuggets as their head coach.
The Move: Denver to L.A.
Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt all had stints playing for Denver in their careers. For Beasley and Vanderbilt, it is where their NBA careers started. They were even teammates during the 2018-2019 season. Another player we can add to this list is Shaquille Harrison, who played for Denver two seasons ago. These guys now know what Nikola Jokic is like as a teammate and as an opponent.
The Move: L.A. to Denver
Thomas Bryant, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and DeAndre Jordan are more than happy to be on the winning side of this series. These players were once Lakers, and everyone can feel the relief of putting away their former team. Bryant has to be the “most relieved” one since he was just in L.A. when the season began but was traded away to Denver.
The Wizardly Connections
It is quite interesting to know that at least six players in this series were members of the Washington Wizards. Bryant, Jeff Green, Troy Brown Jr., Rui Hachimura, Ish Smith, and Caldwell-Pope all had stints with the Wizards in the last five years. A few of the aforementioned players were even teammates when they were based in Washington. Seems like the Lakers and the Nuggets like dealing with Washington’s team executives.
Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
