DETROIT — Right now, Linas Kleiza has the right to smile, laugh, brag and chastise.
And he exercises those rights liberally.
“L.K. always talks the most trash,” Carmelo Anthony said.
All in good fun, mind you. But there was clout to be gained when his Lithuanian team handled Yakhouba Diawara’s French team rather easily in the EuroBasket Olympic qualifying tournament this summer.
It was a time to brag. But it was also a time to solidify a friendship, and the Nuggets teammates did both in Spain as they played for their countries.
Kleiza admits to not having a great scoring game, but Lithuania jumped out to a big lead, then held on in the second half for an 88-73 win in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Kleiza smiled.
“They were no match for us,” he said. “Definitely beat them, beat them pretty good. But we had a great team, and we’re going to have a great team next year, too, in the Olympics. We’re bringing everybody.”
Diawara downplayed the contest. A bit.
“It was a fun game,” he said. “I know L.K. was playing, it was the first time I played against him, except maybe here in practice. So it was a good challenge. Good friend of mine, having fun. But when we play the game, it’s competition, Lithuania vs. France, not L.K. against Kuba.
“So we just tried to win. They played a really good first half, we came back in the second half, but we got tired and they beat us in the end.”
France got tired? Kleiza insists his team “relaxed” in the second half, allowing the comeback. Either way, Kuba admitted to doing his fair share of smack talking.
“A little bit,” he said. “We were having fun, joking around. Having fun, saying we’re gonna beat you by 30 or 40. Friendly trash-talking, nothing really big. It’s just friendly.”
The payoff for both was experience on the court, and a better relationship off of it.
The two had been friends as two of the youngest players on the Nuggets. But getting to hang out during the tournament strengthened the bond.
“Definitely we were good friends before,” Kleiza said. “But hanging out, kind of chillin’ out together, going to get some food and eating, it definitely helps get closer as teammates. We definitely got some food and talked a lot. He’s a fun guy to be around.”
Said Diawara: “Yeah, it brought us closer together. It’s the first time that we played against each other. Usually we’re together. I think it brought us close and we had some fun.”
Anthony, who has played national team basketball in three of the past four years, says he knows the bond it can create.
“It’s possible,” Anthony said. “If I’m over there, I might see Kuba, I might see Nene and L.K., and hang out with them a little bit. We would do the same thing as if we were here in our own city.”
Kleiza has already started in on Anthony, as the U.S. and Lithuanian teams figure to meet in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
“We’re already trash-talking with Melo, because that game is waiting for us in the Olympics,” Kleiza said.
And the experience?
“I felt like I got better during the summer, just getting more experience, playing different positions,” Kleiza said. “So that was good.”
Footnotes. Kleiza (ankle) did not participate in Monday’s practice and is listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against Milwaukee in Green Bay, Wis. But he said he’s not worried. “It’s a typical sprain,” Kleiza said….Guard Chucky Atkins (groin) did not practice, either. He’ll likely not play against the Bucks.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
