BOSTON — Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone could go on for hours on what Boston Celtics newbies, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, have meant to the 2023-24 version of the group chasing banner No. 18.
But Malone believes it may have been the move the Celtics didn’t make last summer, splitting up Batman (Tatum) and Robin (Brown), that sent a message to their rabid and hungry fandom.
“I get it. I’m a New York guy,” said Malone. “It’s not easy to today in pro sports, but patience is everything. If an ownership sees progress and believes in it, a coach is very lucky.”
Malone, who spent a few of his high school years in Rhode Island where his dad Brendan Malone was URI head coach, has experience with this subject.
He is now in the middle of his ninth season with the Nuggets, the defending NBA champs.
It makes the fourth longest-tenured coach in the NBA, behind San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (28 years), Miami’s Eric Spoelstra (16) and Golden State’s Steve Kerr (10).
“And that begins with ownership,” said Malone. “We have an ownership group in Denver that is not reactionary, has the ability to take a step back and look at the big picture.
“’Where are we now? What do we have? We’re young, we’re growing ... Are we improving? Do we have a culture in place,’” said Malone.
In fact, there was a time, after his third year, none of which were playoff years, when he wondered if the axe might be coming.
“We lost that last game, Game 82, in overtime against Minnesota. The winner went to the playoffs. We went home,” recalled Malone. “Most teams would have fired me at that point, even though we won 46 games. But ownership looked at the big picture, that we took over a 30-win team and got better every year. They realized we were developing young players, that we had an identity; we had a culture; and they stuck with me because they liked the direction of the team.”
The next four years were not anything close to an actual championship runs, other than a conference final in the shortened “bubble” season during COVID.
Jamal Murray’s healthy return set up last year’s title run in which Malone’s partner in crime, that guy Nikola Jokic, asserted himself as the best player in the world.
It’s not a coincidence that Jokic came in the same year Malone started. Murray arrived a year later.
Jokic has become what Larry Bird meant to the Boston Celtics.
“When I got here nine years ago my most important thing was creating a culture as a work team; a selfless team; and a trust team,” said Malone. “And as the years passed, year two to year three, Nikola became the embodiment of that culture.”
And when the Nuggets draft talent like Peyton Watson, 30th overall in 2022, all Malone has to do it point him in the direction of his best player.
“I compare it to Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan, who is very selfless, very talented, but also set the tone every single day,” said Malone. “You can be a leader without being vocal, and Nikola’s leadership abilities right now are more with the example he gives each and every day.”
A key element of longevity and keeping it fresh has been the addition of a key new body almost every year and something else.
“The game has changed a lot in nine years since I first arrived here,” said Malone. “I want to bring something new to the table, a different drill, a different play, just try different things.”
Which brings us back to the matter at hand, the Nuggets, which lost a tough game on Tuesday night against the Sixers, versus the Celtics.
And that Celtics record at home, 20-0, is absolutely a topic of discussion. Last year’s Nuggets had its best record at home, 34-7, which apparently means something.
In the playoffs last spring the Nuggets lost only one game in Denver.
“If you can win a high percentage of games at home and be an above .500 team on the road, you put yourself in great seeding position,” said Malone. “It also gives you confidence to say no matter what team comes into our building, we have an edge.
“We know Boston’s record (at home),” said Malone. “We know their fans are loud. We know they’re good. We know we’re good, too. Why not be the first team to beat them.”
You can email Bill Burt at [email protected].