Nuggets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay said prior to Tuesday's game that he was going to use Lakers coach Byron Scott's criticism as motivation, and it worked.
In Denver's 120-109 win, Mudiay finished with 12 points and 10 assists. He wasn't lights out (3 of 13 from the field), but he did have a career high in assists and helped his team to victory. After the game, he took a little jab at Scott.
Emmanuel Mudiay, after collecting 10 assists tonight: "Thank you Byron Scott for saying I'm not a point guard." #Nuggets
— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) November 4, 2015For reference, Scott said earlier this week that when the Lakers worked out Mudiay before the draft he “didn’t think he was a true point guard” and “didn’t think he was a guy who made great decisions.” To be fair, he said he felt Mudiay would be very good, but said he would have to learn the point guard skills Scott felt D'Angelo Russell already possessed.
Before Tuesday's game, Mudiay was asked about Scott's comments and he seemed a little uspet by them.
“They passed up on me; that's definitely a motivation,” he said, via the LA Daily News. “They took another point guard ahead of me. I'm a point guard. So I guess they saw something in [Russell] that they didn't see in me.
The Lakers made Russell the No. 2 overall pick while Mudiay fell to No. 7 in the draft.
