How READY is AD for Jokic & the Nuggets? 🤔 'INCONSISTENCY plagued Davis' - Stephen A. | First Take 

You don’t stop Jokic. You stop the team from being able to benefit off of him. Shut down the passing lanes and turn him into a pure scorer and force the Lakers to crash the boards. Who cares if he scores 40+ if the Nugs lose

The real question is are the lakers ready for Jamal Murray

The problem with the media is that they don't talk about how Denver beat the Lakers. They try to come up with the gameplan for the Lakers to beat the Nuggets.

AD is a great defender, but he can't stop Joker. Nobody has been able to stop him.

The real questions. Is Lebron ready for Gordon? Is Reeves ready for KCP? Is Rui ready for MPJ? Is Dlo ready for Playoff Murray? Nuggets have a far better starting 5 at literally every aspect of the sport

It’s hilarious that these people talk about LeBron and AD warnings Denver about “smack talk” after the nuggets swept the Lakers in the WCF then went on to beat the Heat 4-1 in the finals for their first ever championship. That was before the season started. Since LeBron and AD told the nuggets to watch out, the Nuggs embarrassed them on opening night after LA watched the Nuggs banner raising. The nuggets went in to Crypto and smacked them in the Kobe statue unveiling night. LeBron and AD have already been humiliated for those preseason comments.

Only delusional ppl thought last year the Lakers stand a chance vs. Denver. Same this year.....

No.. the other role players have to outplay denvers role players, which they wont. Nuggets in 6

No one can be ready to deal with Jokic

AD ain’t going to do nothing to Jokic. Denver will clap the Lakers in 5

No one can be ready, especially AD. Jokic is too good

Bruce brown impacted last years series

The guy with the royal blue tie is trying his hard to look like Skip 😂

Tim deserves to be on the parade if we win again, bro has been ridin with us both last and this season

I totally agree with doggy they MUST win game one!

Ad has been consistent

The Jokers stamina is second to none is that the big difference makeup between the two centers

Remember when Lebron-ESPN ran the story of RUI THE JOKIC STOPPER for 2 days😂 Lebron-ESPN gotta find an angle or storyline to give the lakers some hope. Some espn talking heads a few years ago were saying Jokic is (f)at, overweight and out of shape vs the warriors.

don't you owe shannon dinner???

AD's not ready at all He cant handle Jokic watch AD play off the paint and start shooting 3's . 😂

AD gotta come wit it every game

If the Lakers can defend the perimeter and score on most fast breaks they can win this series. U can’t stop Joker

Finally someone talking about Lakers!

Revenge is a dish best served cold 🥶… Lakers out here looking for revenge like it’s summer of 16 😏 AD has something to prove 💪🏽

Only players I’ve seen “effect” jokic has been Dwight Howard and Victor wembyama

Nothing stops Jokic? Dwight Howard did.

Dwight howard was the only guy who could stop jokic.

Howard would have been a great addition to the Lakers' defense for Jokic.

Denver is to poised and disciplined especially in the playoffs they will get right back to what they started last year in the WCF a beatdown

they can win but my brain have trust issues 😂😂

This season i felt they pressured the opponents to have to shoot from the 3 line and guarded better under the basket, this season they worked so much on the 3s everyone is shooting great compared to last season. And against the nuggest they will do the opposite not let them shoot from the 3 line

Nobody on the Lakers can stop Jokic. He will get his numbers eventually. But the Lakers need to put a check on everybody else including MPJ. And I would put Vando to slow down Murray. Dlo has to be the X factor in this series. And hopefully Darvin Ham did his homework with better execution down the stretch of the ball game against Denver.

If you was Denver play watch how many times Aaron sit under the baseline for easy lobs Lakers can do that same thing with AD and Hayes in at the same time put AD at power forward easy lobs for Hayes joker has to stop the lob and Aaron Gordon can't stop AD we already know he can't deal with joker nobody can so try something different

Lakers should’ve got 2 big man and let AD play power forward. I don’t understand why no one is talking about this because what happened in 2020 when Lakers had Dwight and JaVale. U need multiple bodies for Jokic man.

Ugh. Media is the worst. AD was the best defender in last year’s playoffs (led playoffs in BLKs & REBs) and Jokić avg. 28 PPG on 50.5 PPG, 47 3PT%, 78 FT%, 12 APG. 14.5 RPG. Murray shredded them for 32.5 PPG on 52.5 FG%, 40.5 3PT%, 95 FT%. 6 RPG, 5 APG. 2.8 SPG. They are 8-0 in their last 8 contests including last year’s Conference Finals sweep. “Let’s talk about what LAL can do…” GTFOH. What LAL can do is start booking their summer vacation early to beat the crowds. That’s it. GTFOH.

AD is not a real 5 he’s not a bruiser, he’s a super dominant 4. which is why we needed a Dwight Howard type player for us this year. And no Christian wood shooting just AD and Hayes this will be tough

And they in the play in ?

Jokić is a decent player, but Murray's the real problem on that Nuggets team. He went for 32 PPG (12 PPG above his average) in their series last year.

This is what I like about the NFL. You don't have homers posing as national journalist like you have in the NBA.

Stephen "from that perspective" A Smtih 😂😂

That altitude ain’t no joke tho!!!!!

I won’t let D’lo to get a pass as well. He better be show up! We’re not going to expect defense from him but we need those 20-25 points to help the old testament and slender man

They need to play big against denver. They have no chance if they don't start a 2 big lineup against denver

Not ready at all

As ready as Meeks sitting on Diddys lap😊

Ready for Cancun Ooo Davis can play/ball, really, and Jokic doesn't 😂😂😂

Stephen, AD dropped 40, you're right, but they lost those games too! Doesn't matter brother, 11 or 40 they b losing

ESPN DONT GET TWISTED…… I LOVE THE NBA IM JUST TALKING CRAP😂

We need vandy n wood bruh🤦🏽 but les go

As a Lakers fan I'm not confident that LA can beat denver. What's changed since last year? AD cannot contain joker on his own, hayes fouls too much and wood is hurt. Denvers forwards are really versatile, mpjr is too tall for our starting guards to contest on the switch and if gordon makes 3pt shots during the series he's gonna make it unfair for the Lakers to defend them. Tbh something they can maybe exploit is Murray not being 100% healthy. Plus last year Lakers could of won game 2, 3, and 4 if Lebron didn't jack up those dumb 3pt shots in the 4th quarter of all those games, the question for this year is if he trust his teammates to run the offense when he's gassed, I don't know.

people forget what ad did to jokic a couple years ago in the wcf when he was healthy

Dlo has to be better than murray and perimeter defense has to be the game plan.

Jokic will cook AD like Jokic always did.

Porter lifetime ban from nba...no story?

People thinking ADis anywhere close to jokics level or control of game is just ridiculous

AD is the key for my Lakers to make sure we have a series here.

Lakers not stopping him

aslo watch Joker literally screen and booty push AD and then take off as AD ends up trailing the play. Nance tried it yesterday. Joker does it great. He is literally putting AD behind the play

You can't view AD through the lens of an offensive player because he's not that.

Is Darvin Ham ready for Denver?

After whooping Lakers Malone will shout : WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW!!!😂😂

No he’s not ready for Denver Anthony Davis gon fold he hasn’t found out jokic weakness because jokic has no weakness

I don’t think so

Is Jokic more unstoppable that Shaq? Thoughts?

AD can't check Joker... he hasn't played like a star against the Kings this season swept... Denver Swept... you play to win the game

the problem still is even they can somehow have an answer for Jokic they still cant contain Murray, and Murray and Jokic also have help with the guys like KCP, Gordon and Porter

Mad Dog is right. Game 1 is a must win for the Lakers to deliver a sucker punch. If you let Denver get comfortable, they will demolish everyone in a heartbeat. Denver, even though a lot of playoff experience and the chip, is more bound to lose their cool if things don't go their way than the Lakers because Denver is a small market team.

AD need to be doin some push ups starting yesterday bro!!

These people talk about like Joker alone killed Lakers last season 😂 Joker chilled in that series, it's Jamal who massacred Lakers.

People seem to forget that Jamal Murray is the one who destroyed the Lakers last playoffs. Laker guards couldn't match up with him and he torched them whenever the game was close.

Honestly the Lakers need to get Dwight Howard to body Jokic so AD wouldn’t endure the physical battle vs Jokic.

The real question is are the Lakers brooms already wore off cause if not they will just have an extra pair of broom that they will not be able to use after this series.

I didnt know playof is one on one😂

I will say jokic be having some lucky shots from the 3 point line

DENVER in 5 ✋! JOKIC will outplay AD in their MATCHUP, which is a KEY FACTOR in this SERIES, and be UNSTOPPABLE. DENVER NUGGETS are on track to repeat as NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS 🏆🏆

THUNDER & DENVER

AD should take a different approach. If you can’t guard jokic than try to match him number wise. One thing tho that ppl don’t realize with Denver, Michael porter Jr is coming along as a true third option.

It’s a shame that we supposed to be discussing “AD will dominate jokic” instead of “how ready AD will be?” Then if they lost. All the blame will go towards LeBron. A 52 yr old best player on the team, playing on his 21st season.

Y'all know an injury can swing this whole series in whoever's favor, right? 😢

This is how you know ESPN gives these dudes takes to argue. 24 HOURS AGO Stephen A LAUGHED at the thought of LA winning 1 GAME against Denver

AD need to drop 50. He can't stop Jokic, but he needs to attack him all game long. Play Jokic 1v1 and don't let "the others" beat you.

I gotta be honest the amount of talk for the Lakers is still pretty silly. I hope Denver smashes them again. Why can’t they ever talk up the Denver Nuggets? I don’t even have a dog in this fight, but this is getting to be a little ridiculous.

Getting props for showing up to work welcome to 2024

alot of good trades should be going down in the off szn once the lakers lose!

The Lakers need game 1. 💯

The Dlo murray matchup is what’s really gonna dictate this series

Inside stephen A crying... "Please... win this series for me. My credibility is at stake. Jokic and Denver made me look like I dont know anything about the game of basketball."

Winning game 1 is the key to beating the nuggets.Go Lakers 💜💛💜💛

Rematch 💪🏾 LAL VS DEN

Not feeling good about Nuggets repeating this year. Bruce Brown is a big factor to their success last year. This year they have young unproven players coming off the bench.

You slow down Jokic by disrupting plays he creates for his teammates and defend everyone else so they don't score willy nilly

What I don’t understand is why the lakers don’t try to do what they did in the bubble. Get a floor general to run the second unit (rondo) and get some try centers (dewight and javele) so Ad can play the 4. He already said he don’t want to play the 5 and they just insist on making him the 5 like how dumb are yall?

If he plays like top 3 bigman AD combined with a healthy bron then it can be a competitive series

Why we acting like rest isn't good for the repeating champs?

No offensive rebounding! Dwight Howard was on his head!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

32 and 15 from Ad i need it

Lakers Game Plan: Major Ref Assistance

LFG AD

The real question is Are ESPN ''analysts'' ready for a new sweep of their boss?

AD needs to bring it every game and DLO REALLY needs to stay consistent every game