OK, you nattering NBA knuckleheads, make up your fickle minds. Are these dudes from Denver championship frauds or too talented to waste another MVP year of two-time MVP Nikola Jokic’s career?
Stuck in the crossfire of this noise is coach Michael Malone. Help me out here, please. Are our gritty, little Nuggets the least scary No. 1 seed in league history? Or does Malone deserve to lose his job if Denver gets bounced early from the playoffs? It can’t be both.
“I hate to break it to you guys. I don’t watch TV. I don’t read the paper. The pressure that I have I put on myself. You’re never going to put pressure on me. This is my job. This is my livelihood. I love my job,” Malone said last week.
Contrary to his see-no-evil, hear-no-evil protest, Malone does feel pressure to deliver a championship. The urgency to win it all begins at the top, with Nuggets ownership.
While Stan Kroenke has never been reluctant to reach into his deep pockets to fund the pursuit of a trophy, history suggests he has little or no stomach for a long-term commitment to paying the luxury tax for a roster that proves to be anything less than a bona fide contender. At 28 years old, Jokic might be in the prime of a Hall of Fame career, but it’s legit to wonder how long Kroenke will pry open Joker’s championship window with luxury tax dollars.
The guy who hired Malone to rescue a rag-tag bunch of young players from the NBA dumpster back in 2015 now works for Minnesota, the opening-round foe in the first year the Nuggets have ever been burdened with even a hint of Finals-or-bust expectations. While Timberwolves president of basketball ops Tim Connelly treated Malone like a brother from another mother, it’s a more down-to-earth and down-to-business relationship with new Denver general manager Calvin Booth.
“We as an organization put pressure on ourselves to win a championship. That’s what motivates us. That’s the pressure,” Malone said. “The external pressure? Fans, bloggers, this-that, I could give a (bleep). It’s about what I put on myself.”
Survive and advance against the Timberwolves, whose defensive length could give Jokic trouble, and Malone will surpass Doug Moe for the most playoff victories by any coach in franchise history.
Yes, winning this best-of-seven series, which opens Sunday night at Ball Arena, would earn Malone a modest 25 playoff victories. But that humble fact also serves as a reminder of how little basketball success has ever kicked up dust in our cowtown and underscores the yeoman work Malone has done for a franchise with no championship tradition. Malone developed Jokic into the best player to ever wear a Nuggets uniform, was a steady hand during that crazy run to the conference finals in the COVID bubble and remained upbeat through the long rehab process from tough injuries to Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray.
All the happy bullet points on Malone’s resume, however, wouldn’t lessen the angst should the Nuggets get upset by Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in the first round. Losing to the Timberwolves would undoubtedly put the working relationship between Malone and Booth to the test.
Booth, who added the veteran grit and defensive snarl of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown to the Denver backcourt, is more savvy and calculating than warm and fuzzy. Unlike Connelly, he wants to win a ring more than an invitation to your birthday party.
When rookie Christian Braun finally became entrenched in Malone’s playing rotation down the stretch of the regular season, the move felt to me like a firm nudge from Booth, also a big believer in the defensive prowess of 20-year-old Peyton Watson.
Although George Karl guided the Nuggets to the playoffs during each of his nine seasons working in Denver, he only advanced past the opening round once. It wasn’t the lack of playoff success, so much as a feisty coach’s disconnect with the front office and ownership that led to the less-than-amicable divorce with Karl. While winning can cure almost any ill, mutual trust is required to weather tough times.
I get it. We’re all sick and tired of waiting until next year for the Nuggets to reach the NBA Finals.
But as the first coach in franchise history to earn a No. 1 playoff seed, should anything other than an embarrassing first-round flameout cost Malone his job?
Not in my book.
Malone, however, knows it’s time to stand and deliver.
“The regular season doesn’t mean anything,” Malone said. “Show and prove it in the playoffs.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
