Denver did cruise the playoffs last year. Thunder aren’t going to get any respect until we show people in the playoffs
doom_pony
I may get downvoted for admitting this, but this definitely crossed my mind when the gummies hit last night.
LoxDnw
espn is trash everyone knows
iapunk
It would be so great if the Lakers lose the 7/8 game then lose against the 9/10 winner to miss the playoffs entirely. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for the Warriors before but I will be if this is the scenario.
GeoffSproke
Hmm… I think the next few weeks are going to get really uncomfortable for the people in this sub who think that OKC winning the west by 1 game means that they’re the most feared team and the automatic favorites to win the championship.
robmagob
This isn’t a diss at all… we are a young and totally untested team in the playoffs and the Nuggets are the defending champions.
The simple facts of the matter is thus far they are a much more proven team in the playoffs. If we win it all this year or have a deep playoff run then that will be a different story, but we can’t count our chickens before they hatch.
gummyvitaminfanatic
Bulletin board material @Mark
culinaryfuckabout
I get that we’re young and inexperienced, while Denver showed last year that they’re a playoff powerhouse, but having every talking head discuss this hypothetical is just disrespectful.
If I were the Lakers, I wouldn’t want to play Joker in the first round, but I also wouldn’t want to play a healthy, rested and hot Thunder team after playing tough play-in elimination games.
Pilgrims-to-Nowhere
Simmons made this point on his Playoffs preview as well. It’s annoying, but I hope it fuels us.
It’s like…if everyone is positioning themselves to play us because our size is so exploitable, how did we end up in the 1st seed? Wouldn’t we have been exploited all year long and be barely scraping by for a play-in spot if that was the case? Or did teams just decide to play the long con and go easy on us during the season so we would get the 1st seed?
Every team has a weakness. For some its size and playoff inexperience, and others its health and wear and tear. Everyone is predicting that we are going to get dominated up the Lakers, but where are the Lakers if Bron and/or AD are not 100% for their entire playoff run?
Razorback_Thunder
I don’t think it’s too disrespectful. Trying to be objective, I ultimately expect Denver to come out of the West. It isn’t crazy that a play-in team would try to avoid that matchup to extend their playoff stay as long as possible.
Banking on beating the 9/10 winner in a one game scenario is a huge toss up though. Personally I wouldn’t tank the play-in. I think I read the Lakers specifically are 1-7 against GS and the Kings. Those aren’t odds I’d want to mess with.
Putting my Thunder goggles back on, I don’t care who we play. We are the 1 seed for a reason. We can beat any team we go up against. I’d love to avoid a Cali team so we didn’t get the 930 pm local time tip off for the away games, but I’ll suffer through it if I must.
Easy_Mastodon_6872
Yeah this is asinine, get in when you can get in. Imagine losing on purpose and then losing the subsequent game, can’t risk it.
Such_Gas_3040
What they know about loud city 🤔
fredlikefreddy
Well it’s the 2 outcomes of the game. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a dis. The media doesn’t really suck off Denver too much and they are defending champs
bigfatpaulie
On Get Up this morning, the analysts were saying Philly is dangerous because Embiid found his second guy in Maxey… yet he was balling out in the playoffs last year while Embiid was either injured or choking. Then they said the Lakers should rest LeBron and AD, and then have them back and coast in a one-off game vs the Kings/Warriors, so they can win and face us instead of Denver. Huh???
SandyMandy17
We had a great regular season but it’s 0-0 now
Nuggets literally won it all last year
Time to prove it
drkmani
Let them fuck around and find out
jm3546
Less of a diss and more just dumb…if you are a 7/8, you absolutely don’t intentionally lose the game for the 7th to have a chance at 8th. Whoever wins the 9/10 could come in and get a flukey win and now you are knocked out of the playoffs.
Environmental_Hold52
I think the guy on undisputed that said teams were “not giving their best” all year is the reason we have the first seed is more of a diss.
Today-Unlucky
To be fair the Lakers get their ass beat by the Nuggets every time, got swept in the playoffs and the season series. This isn’t that crazy for them. The Pels is a different story tho
12footjumpshot
Like it or not as the youngest #1 seed in history we are going to be viewed with skepticism until we aren’t. Playoffs are a different beast and the Nuggets are a proven machine in the playoffs. Our guys need to prove themselves to get respect in the playoffs.
nathanimal33
If you asked all 4 teams they’d most likely say given a choice they’d rather play OKC but no nba team is losing a game on purpose to play a single elimination game
Iamkonkerz
Intentionally lose and have a best of one against someone else is just dumb…9 and 10 is just as hungry and they could beat them…
Sometimes i geel nba is scripted and posts in espn like this make me think so even more
BillyBronco69
Let’s pretend the lakers do this, and the kings win the 9 vs 10 game. The kings have the lakers’ number this season and they now don’t make the playoffs for wanting to play okc
OsageOne1
What are most of the responses on the ig post?
808zAndThunder
Everyone hating on the Thunder still. Let’s embrace it and show these mf’s who arrived 😤
JaylenBrownsLeftHand
I mean. It’s true?
Thunder too young. They won’t win it all this year. Denver is much more a threat.
Intentionally losing is dumb though. There is no guarantee you win the next game. Just win to get in the playoffs. Anything can happen in a single game.
Das_Oberon
I don’t think it’s a diss. The Nuggets are the Nuggets. The reining champs. One of the best and most interesting bigs we’ve ever seen who also has a couple MVPs.
The Thunder are the Thunder. The youngest team ever to lock up the 1 seed. A potential MVP in SGA. Potential superstars in Chet and Jalen. Potential. Youth. Potential. Youth.
The Nuggets have proved they belong. We haven’t. We’re still waiting for the results of the Presti Science Experiment Extravaganza. This year is the first part of those results. If we run through to the WCF, then they won’t be posing this same question next year. It’ll be, “Who would you rather matchup with over OKC?”
VelvetineMilkman
I mean if you’re one of those teams you’d absolutely rather play us than Denver lol. It’s not even disrespectful to us, more just giving Denver the respect they deserve considering they’re defending champs and just as good as they were last year
693275001
It’s not a diss.
Vakarian74
The disrespect for this team is unreal.
ymi17
I mean – lakers fans aren’t even suggesting this. They’re saying “if we have to play the nuggets eventually let’s get them early” which, frankly, I agree with.
This is ESPN’s hyper Lakers focused bait. No Laker wants to risk having to beat the Kings or Warriors in a win or go home scenario when they could just beat the Pels again.
Far_Dependent_2066
For the Lakers, although their games have been incredibly close, the Nuggets have come out on top repeatedly. The Lakers don’t want to play the Nuggets because they can’t slow Joker down. They also struggle with Sacramento. It’s a risk and the Thunder are really good, probably have the better top to bottom talent, but matchups matter.
oklahomaie
The real diss is that pic of Jokic
matdarg09
These talking heads are just trying to get views from talking the Lakers into the finals.
Noone has talked about how the warriors just dominated the Lakers AND how Sabonis and the Kings have dominated the Lakers for years. So intentionally losing so the Lakers can face either of those teams in a win or go home game is idiotic.
Excellent-Phase8719
Daigenault needs to run those old men to death. Play as fast as possible with full court press the first two games. By game 4, the old men on Lakers be huffing and puffing.
SD1428
Yeah it’s crazy how they still think nothing of us. We literally won the conference
IDespiseFatties
To get out of the Play-In from 7 and 8 you only need 1 win or two losses. It would be dumb to risk the 9/10 team getting you in one game when you would have 7 against Denver.
PokuCHEFski69
I actually think it would be smart to do this if your goal is to win it all
stumo11
I don’t think the lakers necessarily takes a L on purpose in the 7 v8 play in game but if the pels go on a crazy run or let’s say they have a great shooting night, the lakers aren’t gonna be super desperate like it’s a game 7 win or go home, because they would have another shot to get in and the matchup is honestly better for them against us so it’s probly not a must win mentally in that looker room for the 7 vs 8 play in game.
sickboy3883
TBF getting Joker on round one means you’re going 99% home, going against us would mean a better chance, so this is not insane, or even a diss (they’re stronger than us RN and the defending champions with a 3 time MVP), even though our future looks great). Having said that, the losing mentality never gets you anywhere. You play to win, and if it leads you to get the best team in the league, so be it
40 Comments
Denver did cruise the playoffs last year. Thunder aren’t going to get any respect until we show people in the playoffs
I may get downvoted for admitting this, but this definitely crossed my mind when the gummies hit last night.
espn is trash everyone knows
It would be so great if the Lakers lose the 7/8 game then lose against the 9/10 winner to miss the playoffs entirely. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for the Warriors before but I will be if this is the scenario.
Hmm… I think the next few weeks are going to get really uncomfortable for the people in this sub who think that OKC winning the west by 1 game means that they’re the most feared team and the automatic favorites to win the championship.
This isn’t a diss at all… we are a young and totally untested team in the playoffs and the Nuggets are the defending champions.
The simple facts of the matter is thus far they are a much more proven team in the playoffs. If we win it all this year or have a deep playoff run then that will be a different story, but we can’t count our chickens before they hatch.
Bulletin board material @Mark
I get that we’re young and inexperienced, while Denver showed last year that they’re a playoff powerhouse, but having every talking head discuss this hypothetical is just disrespectful.
If I were the Lakers, I wouldn’t want to play Joker in the first round, but I also wouldn’t want to play a healthy, rested and hot Thunder team after playing tough play-in elimination games.
Simmons made this point on his Playoffs preview as well. It’s annoying, but I hope it fuels us.
It’s like…if everyone is positioning themselves to play us because our size is so exploitable, how did we end up in the 1st seed? Wouldn’t we have been exploited all year long and be barely scraping by for a play-in spot if that was the case? Or did teams just decide to play the long con and go easy on us during the season so we would get the 1st seed?
Every team has a weakness. For some its size and playoff inexperience, and others its health and wear and tear. Everyone is predicting that we are going to get dominated up the Lakers, but where are the Lakers if Bron and/or AD are not 100% for their entire playoff run?
I don’t think it’s too disrespectful. Trying to be objective, I ultimately expect Denver to come out of the West. It isn’t crazy that a play-in team would try to avoid that matchup to extend their playoff stay as long as possible.
Banking on beating the 9/10 winner in a one game scenario is a huge toss up though. Personally I wouldn’t tank the play-in. I think I read the Lakers specifically are 1-7 against GS and the Kings. Those aren’t odds I’d want to mess with.
Putting my Thunder goggles back on, I don’t care who we play. We are the 1 seed for a reason. We can beat any team we go up against. I’d love to avoid a Cali team so we didn’t get the 930 pm local time tip off for the away games, but I’ll suffer through it if I must.
Yeah this is asinine, get in when you can get in. Imagine losing on purpose and then losing the subsequent game, can’t risk it.
What they know about loud city 🤔
Well it’s the 2 outcomes of the game. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a dis. The media doesn’t really suck off Denver too much and they are defending champs
On Get Up this morning, the analysts were saying Philly is dangerous because Embiid found his second guy in Maxey… yet he was balling out in the playoffs last year while Embiid was either injured or choking. Then they said the Lakers should rest LeBron and AD, and then have them back and coast in a one-off game vs the Kings/Warriors, so they can win and face us instead of Denver. Huh???
We had a great regular season but it’s 0-0 now
Nuggets literally won it all last year
Time to prove it
Let them fuck around and find out
Less of a diss and more just dumb…if you are a 7/8, you absolutely don’t intentionally lose the game for the 7th to have a chance at 8th. Whoever wins the 9/10 could come in and get a flukey win and now you are knocked out of the playoffs.
I think the guy on undisputed that said teams were “not giving their best” all year is the reason we have the first seed is more of a diss.
To be fair the Lakers get their ass beat by the Nuggets every time, got swept in the playoffs and the season series. This isn’t that crazy for them. The Pels is a different story tho
Like it or not as the youngest #1 seed in history we are going to be viewed with skepticism until we aren’t. Playoffs are a different beast and the Nuggets are a proven machine in the playoffs. Our guys need to prove themselves to get respect in the playoffs.
If you asked all 4 teams they’d most likely say given a choice they’d rather play OKC but no nba team is losing a game on purpose to play a single elimination game
Intentionally lose and have a best of one against someone else is just dumb…9 and 10 is just as hungry and they could beat them…
Sometimes i geel nba is scripted and posts in espn like this make me think so even more
Let’s pretend the lakers do this, and the kings win the 9 vs 10 game. The kings have the lakers’ number this season and they now don’t make the playoffs for wanting to play okc
What are most of the responses on the ig post?
Everyone hating on the Thunder still. Let’s embrace it and show these mf’s who arrived 😤
I mean. It’s true?
Thunder too young. They won’t win it all this year. Denver is much more a threat.
Intentionally losing is dumb though. There is no guarantee you win the next game. Just win to get in the playoffs. Anything can happen in a single game.
I don’t think it’s a diss. The Nuggets are the Nuggets. The reining champs. One of the best and most interesting bigs we’ve ever seen who also has a couple MVPs.
The Thunder are the Thunder. The youngest team ever to lock up the 1 seed. A potential MVP in SGA. Potential superstars in Chet and Jalen. Potential. Youth. Potential. Youth.
The Nuggets have proved they belong. We haven’t. We’re still waiting for the results of the Presti Science Experiment Extravaganza. This year is the first part of those results. If we run through to the WCF, then they won’t be posing this same question next year. It’ll be, “Who would you rather matchup with over OKC?”
I mean if you’re one of those teams you’d absolutely rather play us than Denver lol. It’s not even disrespectful to us, more just giving Denver the respect they deserve considering they’re defending champs and just as good as they were last year
It’s not a diss.
The disrespect for this team is unreal.
I mean – lakers fans aren’t even suggesting this. They’re saying “if we have to play the nuggets eventually let’s get them early” which, frankly, I agree with.
This is ESPN’s hyper Lakers focused bait. No Laker wants to risk having to beat the Kings or Warriors in a win or go home scenario when they could just beat the Pels again.
For the Lakers, although their games have been incredibly close, the Nuggets have come out on top repeatedly. The Lakers don’t want to play the Nuggets because they can’t slow Joker down. They also struggle with Sacramento. It’s a risk and the Thunder are really good, probably have the better top to bottom talent, but matchups matter.
The real diss is that pic of Jokic
These talking heads are just trying to get views from talking the Lakers into the finals.
Noone has talked about how the warriors just dominated the Lakers AND how Sabonis and the Kings have dominated the Lakers for years. So intentionally losing so the Lakers can face either of those teams in a win or go home game is idiotic.
Daigenault needs to run those old men to death. Play as fast as possible with full court press the first two games. By game 4, the old men on Lakers be huffing and puffing.
Yeah it’s crazy how they still think nothing of us. We literally won the conference
To get out of the Play-In from 7 and 8 you only need 1 win or two losses. It would be dumb to risk the 9/10 team getting you in one game when you would have 7 against Denver.
I actually think it would be smart to do this if your goal is to win it all
I don’t think the lakers necessarily takes a L on purpose in the 7 v8 play in game but if the pels go on a crazy run or let’s say they have a great shooting night, the lakers aren’t gonna be super desperate like it’s a game 7 win or go home, because they would have another shot to get in and the matchup is honestly better for them against us so it’s probly not a must win mentally in that looker room for the 7 vs 8 play in game.
TBF getting Joker on round one means you’re going 99% home, going against us would mean a better chance, so this is not insane, or even a diss (they’re stronger than us RN and the defending champions with a 3 time MVP), even though our future looks great). Having said that, the losing mentality never gets you anywhere. You play to win, and if it leads you to get the best team in the league, so be it