Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are coming off of a magical 2022-23 season, one that ended in them capturing their first championship in franchise history. The Nuggets were the best team all year long and they never seemed to have their backs up against the wall in the postseason, winning their championship series against the Miami Heat in five games.

Now, all eyes will be on Denver entering the 2023-24 season, as they sit at the top of the NBA rankings with every other team looking to dethrone them. Jokic and Co. will face a tough task in their first game of the year, as The Athletic's Shams Charania reports that the Nuggets will play host on opening night to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on October 24.

This will be a rematch of the 2023 Western Conference Finals, a series Denver won convincingly in four games by an average of 6.0 points per game. Jokic was fantastic in this series, as he averaged 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists per game and shot 50.6 percent from the floor against the Lakers en route to winning the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy, also known as the Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

While they did lose swingman Bruce Brown, who stepped up into a huge role for the team in the postseason, and veteran forward Jeff Green in free agency, the Nuggets still have their championship core of Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope alongside Jokic.

As for the Lakers, they will be looking to begin the new season 1-0 for the first time in the LeBron James era. The last time Los Angeles won their first game of the season was during the 2016-17 season when they defeated James Harden and the Houston Rockets.

Anthony Davis and LeBron remain the focal points on the Lakers roster, but this is a much different team than the one Denver swept in four games just a few months back, as Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish highlight the list of offseason additions for Los Angeles. Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D'Angelo Russell are all back on new contracts as well.

The Nuggets and Lakers split their four regular season matchups a season ago with each team failing to win a road game against the other. Since the start of the 1946-47 season, reigning NBA champions are 60-16 on opening night, which fairs well for Nuggets looking ahead to this matchup in October.