In a recent episode of his “Road Trippin’” podcast, Jefferson argued that the NBA actually likes the conspiracy theories, as they add to the league’s reputation for drama. “The two percent does happen. It happens a lot,” Jefferson said. “Everyone wants to say it’s rigged, but the NBA likes that illusion of this. It’s part of the allure. The NBA is the most dramatic sport. It’s the second-biggest sport in the world, but it’s the most dramatic. “The drama that goes into basketball players on and off the court, all the drama, the pettiness, the dads on the court talking s–t to Hall-of-Famers, the NBA is always full of some s–t. That’s just part of the drama. The NBA likes the fact that people are like, ‘Oh, this is rigged.’”

Adelman took over with a priority that transcended tactics. He hoped to improve “the overall vibe.” The result of his own cultural reset has ironically been a narrative that he’s not in control, that Jokic is now coaching the Nuggets on top of everything else. It’s a reductive portrayal at best. Adelman doesn’t mind. “Whatever people want to say,” he said early in this heater of a second-round series. As long as Jokic — and the other starters — feel at ease opining in film sessions and huddles. “More of it, please,” Adelman continued. “Not a bunch of guys going and sitting on the bench, waiting for me to tell them something. Talk to each other. We can figure it out as a group.”

The Nuggets have increasingly played zone defense throughout this series to challenge Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a driver. It has taken various forms, from 2-3 to 1-3-1 to a metamorphosis into man defense mid-possession. At its simplest, Jokic has been tasked with playing quarterback for the two defenders up top. “Bigs are always in charge of communication. The zone is a whole other level of communication,” Adelman said. “I don’t think people realize — like, watching Bam (Adebayo) in Miami — the responsibility of not being part of the actual play that’s going on. You are the person that’s kicking people left and right.”

The thing is, basketball is on the brain of Hines and Edwards at all hours of the day — and night. Even at 2 or 3 a.m., Hines will be awake breaking down film, and he will text Edwards in the middle of the night. “If I shoot him something I’ll be like I hope he’s not awake, check this out in the morning,” Hines said. “But it’s, ‘I’m awake.’ OK, cool, let’s talk about it now then.” He added: “We really don’t get a lot of sleep after games. Our brains are still going, competitive juices are still going. If we see something, then we’ll talk about it right then and there instead of waiting until tomorrow. We’ll just bounce ideas off each other.”

LeBron James: TRIPLE DUB CC!! Great way to kick off the season! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾