The Los Angeles Lakers have an unexpected Western Conference Finals opponent in the Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
The Lakers dominated Game 1 of the series, but the matchup does still present a reunion of sorts for LeBron James and Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
Malone was an assistant under Mike Brown on the Cleveland Cavaliers staff from 2005 to 2010. Malone had the opportunity to be an influential figure on a young LeBron who had only entered the NBA a couple years prior in 2003.
The two experienced plenty of success as the Cavaliers made the playoffs in each of those five seasons, including an NBA Finals appearance in 2007.