Lakers' LeBron James: 'Too Much Emphasis' on Nuggets NBA Playoff Matchup as Rematch

LeBron James isn't exactly out for revenge.

He just wants to advance in the postseason.

"I think you're putting a little bit too much emphasis on it," the Los Angeles Lakers star said Thursday when discussing rematch factor for his team's first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

"This is our first-round matchup. I mean, we're looking forward to the postseason. But I haven't been, like, looking forward to the rematch. The game is played how it's being played, and this is the matchup. So we're looking forward to that challenge."

James may not want the rematch angle to be the focus, but it is going to be a storyline. After all, the Nuggets swept the Lakers during the Western Conference Finals last season and continued their head-to-head success by going 3-0 during the 2023-24 campaign.

Three of the four games during the Western Conference Finals were decided by single digits, so it's not as if Denver was running away with the matchups.

Still, James is an all-time great and the Lakers have 17 championships in franchise history. He is not a player in the business of moral victories, and Los Angeles is not a franchise in the business of such talk either.

But the King cautioned against wanting revenge so badly that it impacts the team's approach.

"It shouldn't be personal at all," he said. "I think you allow yourself to get away from the game plan when you make it too personal. We have a game plan. You go out there and execute it and you live with the results. I'm kind of the last person you should [ask that]—I just stay even-keeled. I've been in the postseason way too long in my career to know that you don't get too high off of Game 1 or get too high over whoever the matchup is. You got to just stay even-keeled."

He would certainly know as a four-time champion who has gone through plenty of repeat series against the likes of the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and others throughout his playoff career.

The Nuggets are just the latest roadblock in his quest for another ring, although they are certainly a formidable one.

Nikola Jokić could be on his way to a third MVP in four seasons, and Denver enters the first-round series as the reigning champions. It dictated the tone in crunch time throughout last season's Western Conference Finals and will look to do the same this time around.

Game 1 is Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.