NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 18, 2020

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Game 1: Pregame

Q. You guys have been insulated in the bubble for I believe over 70 days at this point. What is your sense or do you even have a sense of the excitement level in Denver going into tonight?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, it's been 74 days. And talking to my wife, my daughters, my sister who lives in LoHi, and hearing from a lot of friends and family back there, we hear that it's just been crazy back there, exciting, and the whole city is kind of rallying around our team. Mayor [Michael] Hancock and I have gone back and forth a few times. Obviously he's a big fan. We were put in touch when the league was suspended, just talking about what we can do as an organization to help him make Denver the best city possible. But he's told me that it's just so great to see the city all come together and unite behind a feel-good story in the Nuggets and we still have a lot of work to do. So we appreciate all the love and support back home, no doubt.

Q. Could your team have the spirit that you want it to have if Nikola wasn't so unselfish with how he plays?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, I think you need your best player to buy in and set the example. And during my second season I made the decision that was really, I think, a pivotal moment in franchise history when we inserted Nikola back into the starting lineup as a center and more importantly made the decision to play through him to exploit all the skill level that he has, the IQ, the unselfishness, and his ability to make those around him better. So I can preach being a selfless team. I can preach being a team that makes plays for each other. But when your best player does that naturally, and I think better than anybody in the league, it makes it that much easier for everyone else to fall in line and realize that we do have to trust the pass, we do have to play for each other. And he sets the example every day.

I wish people could see Nikola Jokic behind the scenes, his work ethic, his commitment. Even after a grueling seven-game series that guy is in the gym just getting after it and taking care of himself. So it's great to have Nikola kind of set the tone for our group on and off the court.

Q. So you and LeBron have both talked about your influence on his defense. I was wondering when you -- if you can think back to when you first started working with him on that, what do you remember about how he received that kind of coaching and how receptive he was to what you were trying to teach him?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, well the first thing is, I just want to make sure that we get the narrative straight. I take no credit in LeBron James being the defender that he is. LeBron James deserves the credit. And as I mentioned yesterday, Mike Brown, the head coach in Cleveland who I worked with for five years, deserves the lion's share of the credit because Mike was and still is a defensive-minded coach.

But LeBron was young, hadn't won yet, and for us to make that step in Cleveland that was going to be on the defensive end of the floor. And I think slowly but surely he realized that not just him as an individual, but more importantly collectively as a team, we had to improve greatly on that end of the floor in order for us to be a team that would compete for a championship. I think year two we went to the Finals. We probably won too quick. I remember telling Mike Brown that after we lost to San Antonio in the Finals. I said, Mike, we won too fast, man. Now they're going to expect a championship in year three.

But I always go back to my fourth year in Cleveland. I was the defensive coordinator. We won 66 games. We had a great defense because of our players. And then John Kuester got the head job in Detroit and Mike Brown wanted me to become the offensive coordinator. And I remember LeBron pushed back on that because he felt our defense was where it needed to be. We had it in a really good position. But it turned out to be the best thing for me and our team.

But it was all about LeBron committing, understanding that this is what it was going to take for me to be a great player and more importantly for this team to be a great team that will compete for championships, and he made that commitment. Once he did that that was the easy part because he had all the tools necessary to become a great defender.

Q. When you look at what the Lakers did defensively against Damian [Lillard], against James Harden, to what extent have you kind of prepared Jamal for those kind of looks? And do you feel like having Nikola and his threat maybe might blow up some of the schemes that the Lakers used in earlier rounds?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, we definitely talked about it. You have to give the Lakers defense so much credit, Frank Vogel, a lot of credit, and their staff implementing a game plan against Damian Lillard and then most recently James Harden. And we know that they double-teamed James a lot, got the ball out of his hands. The good thing for us, in 14 games here we feel we have seen everything. The Utah Jazz got very aggressive with Jamal Murray. The Clippers got really aggressive with both Jamal and Nikola. And we have been playing some really meaningful games the last few years where we have seen, where we feel that we have seen anything a team can throw at us and be comfortable with it, more importantly.

So, yes, if they do double-team Jamal, we know how to space and react and how somebody's got to step up and make a play. If they double-team Nikola in the post, same thing. So we're prepared for it. We know that they're going to throw some different looks at us and we just have to be ready to react accordingly.

Q. To get back to the LeBron line of questioning, he mentioned yesterday that part of the reason why you guys developed a bond and a respect was that you were working just as hard as he was. I wonder, if you reflect back on those days, how formative was it for you in terms of where you are now and I don't know if you might have learned anything from him specifically or just that time of your career and how it helped you down the line.

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, I look back on my five years in Cleveland with such great memories. I think during that five-year stretch we were the only team to get out of the first round each of the five years. We had the best record in the NBA twice. Coached the All-Star team, went to the Finals -- unfortunately never won a championship and that was what the ultimate goal was and we came up short. But without a doubt I would not be a head coach if it wasn't for those five years in Cleveland. I would not be a head coach if Mike Brown did not let me coach. Mike Brown has no ego, he was totally selfless and he was never afraid of giving me a voice and giving me a platform. And because we won and because I had a relationship with LeBron, and Mike Brown let me coach, that I was all of a sudden seen in a much different light in the NBA. And then that's all it takes. So without that -- when you coach a great player, we all benefit. When you win, everybody benefits. To LeBron and my relationship, I think the one thing he always respected was I have never tried to be LeBron's boy. I never tried to be his buddy, I wasn't trying to kiss his ass. I'm a coach's son. I'm going to coach. If you're not doing your job, I'm going to tell you just as I would tell anybody else. And I think he always respected that deep down inside that I at least had the courage to coach him and not try to not coach him. I think all great players deep down inside want that. They want that accountability, they want that discipline and I think LeBron has always had that.