ORLANDO, Fla. — Open gym environments in the weeks after the Nuggets’ first NBA championship often involved an energetic 51-year-old man, as one veteran player remembers it.
“His work ethic stood out,” said Reggie Jackson, a newcomer during 2022-23 who was still getting acquainted with Michael Malone’s personality and coaching style as the offseason began. “Being the head coach of a team that won the championship and being back in the gym immediately, not only just watching guys but actually rebounding and passing, defending.”
Malone’s contract extension as head coach of the Denver Nuggets was officially announced Tuesday, while the team was in the middle of a five-game road trip that has required a great deal of film work by Malone and the coaching staff. The Nuggets (10-5) are 3-5 on the road this season going into the final game of the trip Friday at Houston.
“Obviously, just have to give so many thanks to Stan and Josh Kroenke, the Kroenke family, for continuing to believe in me to be the leader of this team, coming off a historical season,” Malone said Wednesday night before facing the Magic. “It’s a place where I truly enjoy going to work every day because of the people I work with.”
The timing of the extension’s formal announcement was somewhat amusing, considering Malone wasn’t even the most recent individual to complete a game as head coach of the Nuggets at the time. Not 24 hours earlier, he was ejected from Denver’s game in Detroit.
“I tell all of our players, ‘You listen, guys are all a lot smarter than I am,’ ” Malone said after the game that night. “I say, ‘Don’t ever get into coaching. It is just an insane business.’”
Part of that insanity, aside from referee-relations management, is the inherent lack of job security inherent in an industry with high public exposure. Malone has managed to dodge the hot seat with steady growth throughout his tenure in Denver, and he’s currently the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the NBA in his ninth season.
Asked by The Denver Post about the extension, Malone said he reminds himself “every day” how fortunate he’s been to keep the same job this long, especially after seeing up-close via his late father, Brendan Malone, how tenuous the profession can be.
“I think you have to,” Malone said. “I grew up in this business, and you know how difficult the job can be for a coach, for their assistant coaches, for the families. When I moved to Denver, I think my daughters were in third and fifth grade. And the fact that I’m going to see both my daughters graduate high school (in Denver) — that never happens in this business. Unless you’re a Gregg Popovich, an Eric Spoelstra, a Steve Kerr, a Jerry Sloane. … So I always remind myself how lucky and fortunate I am, because to coach in the NBA is truly a blessing for me and my family.”
“The guy doesn’t want to lose,” Nikola Jokic told The Post. “He’s competitive. He’s the guy who’s making this team better every year. He helped us win a championship, so that’s the reason why he got an extension.”
Jokic and Malone have been together for Jokic’s entire Hall of Fame career, whereas Jackson has bounced between several teams and coaches. Even with those different perspectives, both identified that fierce competitiveness as his standout characteristic.
“His love for the game, his passion for the game,” Jackson said, remembering those summer workouts. “We’re just happy, happy to have him here for a long time.”
A notable crunch-time substitution in Orlando
Speaking of the burdens of coaching and the accompanying scrutiny: In the Nuggets’ 124-119 loss Wednesday to the Magic, Malone made a notable decision in the last two minutes, when Denver needed points but was struggling to prevent them at the other end.
After the Nuggets got a stop and Malone called a timeout down 118-115 with 1:12 remaining, he brought in Christian Braun for the ensuing possession, subbing out Michael Porter Jr.
Porter had hit 5 of 9 from 3-point range in the game for 25 points, but the Nuggets had been defending poorly the entire fourth quarter, and Orlando was hunting Porter on switches down the stretch, as other teams have done.
“At the end of the day, Michael’s gonna have to guard. Because we see that. That’s what the NBA has turned into,” Malone said. “You watch any NBA game, at the end of the game, they’re gonna call up a certain player on the other team and try to attack him. I think Michael has grown tremendously on the defensive end, and if it gets to a spot where he’s not able to stop the other team, I put in Christian Braun at the end of the game (tonight), I think just to try to stop that from happening.”
The Nuggets turned it over with a 24-second violation their next possession, failing to get a shot off. Needing a stop to stay within one possession, Denver got one and called another timeout with 27 seconds left. Porter checked back in.
“I know Michael’s prideful. I know he hates when teams do that to him (switching him),” Malone said. “And now he’s gotta take that emotion and put it out there, and find a way to not allow teams to do that.”