A policy that has spanned over a decade, from New Orleans to Phoenix to Detroit, owes credit to Michael Malone.
Monty Williams has told its origin story before. But during his first season as an NBA head coach in New Orleans, he was at home one night when he got a call from Malone, then an assistant on Williams’ staff. Malone was working on a scouting report for the next day’s game and had a question. It was about 8:30 p.m.
“Mike, where are you?” Williams remembers asking.
“I’m at the office, Coach.”
Williams says he established a rule the next day that remained one of his foundational principles across multiple jobs. Assistant coaches and other staffers weren’t allowed to be in the office later than 4 p.m. or when their families were eating dinner. “Mike’s been a huge part of my coaching, my life, and how we’ve built our program,” Williams re-emphasized Sunday night before his Pistons lost to Malone’s Nuggets, 131-114.
Their friendship has endured since those New Orleans days, through Western Conference playoff series against each other two of the previous three seasons and into Williams’ newest, most grueling position. The Nuggets (26-12) and Pistons (3-33) won’t match up again in 2023-24, but Malone’s ongoing encouragement of Williams during a season that has tested his resolve beyond imagination is an apt example of the mutual support that exists within the coaching community, even between competitors.
Williams was one of the first people to reach out after Malone’s father, former NBA coach Brendan Malone, died in October. In the months since, Malone has kept in contact with Williams about the Pistons’ season, which is on pace to end with seven wins.
“What Monty’s going through is hard. I mean, they’ve won three games this year,” Malone said. “But as I’ve been texting him a bunch about the season because I care about Monty Williams, if anybody can get that team through it, it’s him. That guy’s been through so much in his life on the court and off the court, this — losing games — is not going to faze Monty Williams. So he’s strong enough to lead that group through this, and I know he will.”
Williams has remained transparent throughout the season about Detroit’s struggles being the most challenging experience of his career. When the Pistons visited Denver, they were recently free of a record-tying 28-game losing streak that included an earlier loss to the Nuggets (in which Malone got ejected).
The rebuilding situation Williams signed up for is at the opposite end of the NBA spectrum from his last job. A four-year tenure leading the Suns included a trip to the 2021 NBA Finals before a second-round loss to Malone and Denver in 2023 led to Williams getting fired.
“I’ve gotten phone calls from Mike (this season), text messages from Mike,” Williams said. “… At some point if you’re fortunate enough to have enough jobs and opportunities, you’re gonna have to go through something like this. And I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude because of the guys that have sent text messages and gave tidbits of advice. It’s pretty cool. But that’s what we do. Some of us compete and we have tough series, tough games, and it’s easy to get emotionally attached to that because of the outcome. But at the end of the day, we all know that we have tough jobs. And when you’re in a restoration, rebuild, it’s gonna be tough. Mike, we’ve always been tight.”
It helps to have sympathy stemming from a similar experience. When Malone started in Denver, the Nuggets were rebuilding. He went 33-49 in his first season after posting a 39-67 record during his brief Sacramento tenure.
“It’s like the model for what I think NBA organizations should strive for, as far as continuity and hanging in there during tough times,” Williams said. “Not accepting anything below excellence but understanding it’s a process. … He and I have had a lot of battles and talks, and you can just see over the long haul what they’ve been able to put together here.
“I’m not surprised — not just the culture piece — but that he was able to lead this place to a championship. Because I’ve been around him. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around. Every day, he’s on. It taught me to do the same thing.”
The friendships built between NBA coaches often extend to families. That was the case in New Orleans, where Williams got to know Malone’s wife, Jocelyn, and his daughters. Williams still looks for them in the crowd every time he coaches at Ball Arena. In fact, they’re also due some of the credit for Williams’ staff policy.
“That was all because of Mike,” Williams said. “Because I didn’t want Jocelyn mad at me.”
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