The matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets is one that the entire world is waiting for with eager and nervous anticipation. LA never managed to get the upper hand against the Nuggets this season. For obvious reasons, of course. The list is long and not one the Lakers fans would like to go back to consult. But that hasn’t stopped LeBron James and Co. from avoiding a clash with the reigning champions.

And now, ahead of the first-round playoffs, James has taken to giving Denver’s superstar Nikola Jokic his due flowers. Talking to the media before the practice for Game 1, he said,  “When you have the ability to score at will, it makes your passing even more dynamic. We’ve had great passers in our league history. We’ve had great guys that are very unselfish.”

“But if that’s all you can do, then teams can try to force you to score and kind of take that away. Guys like Luka, Magic in his prime, Joker, myself, if you try to take away our passing, we can still be effective. That’s what makes us so dynamic.”