When Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone went into his postgame press convention following a Sport 4 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, he possible wasn’t pondering he’d speak about flip-flops.
However after a number of Nuggets gamers have been noticed throughout pregame warm-ups sporting simply flip-flops and socks, that’s precisely what occurred.
With the Nuggets up 3-0 within the collection in opposition to Los Angeles, the final notion of gamers sporting flip-flops to heat up appeared to be that Denver was being nonchalant heading into the potential sweep scenario.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Michael Porter Jr. of the Denver Nuggets warms up in slides earlier than the primary half in opposition to the Lakers in Los Angeles on April 27, 2024. (AAron Ontiveroz/Denver Publish)
Nonetheless, a Nuggets spokesperson informed ESPN that there was a mix-up with some gamers’ insoles of their footwear on the early bus to the world, main them to hit the court docket with out their common basketball sneakers on.
“I feel the bus that the footwear obtained loaded onto was the final bus,” Nuggets beginning ahead Michael Porter Jr. mentioned, per ESPN. “There was some confusion. So, all I had was slides. They mentioned we might both skip our warm-up or go on the market in slides. I type of knew then that folks would most likely make a giant deal out of it, however it was simply because anyone forgot to place the footwear on the proper bus.
CHARLES BARKLEY RIPS PELICANS AFTER PLAYOFF LOSS, TAKES SWIPE AT TEXAS CITY
“It’s irritating. Pregame routine is essential, however everybody makes errors. All people’s human, I’m not too mad.”
Denver has begun video games on this first-round collection sluggish, however they’ve been in a position to overcome deficits and are available away with victories.
Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets warms up in slides earlier than the primary half in opposition to the Lakers in Los Angeles on April 27, 2024. (AAron Ontiveroz/Denver Publish)
The reigning NBA champions, although, didn’t come shut this time round as LeBron James & Co. stored their season alive with a 119-108 victory.
“If you wish to dig into stuff and say, nicely, we misplaced as a result of, for some unusual purpose, our gamers didn’t have their footwear once they obtained right here for his or her regular warm-ups, that we had guys on the market taking pictures round with flip-flops, is it ideally suited? No,” Malone mentioned. “However I’m not an excuse man. And I’m not going to level to the rationale we obtained our butts kicked within the paint as a result of footwear weren’t right here. I feel that’s a attain, personally.”
The Nuggets have one other likelihood to take down the Lakers and transfer on within the playoffs on Monday evening at dwelling in Denver. With a house sport, Malone hopes the tools mishap doesn’t happen.
Michael Porter Jr. of the Denver Nuggets warms up in slides earlier than the primary half in opposition to the Lakers in Los Angeles on April 27, 2024. (AAron Ontiveroz/Denver Publish)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Hopefully we are able to determine that out and ensure it by no means occurs once more,” he mentioned.
Comply with Fox Information Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
