NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 1, 2023

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Game 1: Pregame

Q. After the Phoenix series, you said Popovich reached out to you and said some encouraging words. Have you heard from him or any of your mentors in the subsequent weeks? And if so, what kind of advice have they shared?

MICHAEL MALONE: The number of people that I've heard from in this run has been incredible, from high school teammates, college teammates, coaches, as you mentioned. Most people have an opinion, and everybody wants a ticket. I give them the 1-800 ticket number.

But it's been really neat to hear from coaches that have had an impact on my career and probably -- my father being the number one. It's been since game one of year one all the way up until this point.

So when I hear from, yes, my father, Brendan Malone, but also guys like Gregg Popovich and other coaches that you've come across in many years, even my high school coach Bobby Farrell, that means a lot. I think people are proud of the journey and they all understand that we have a lot of work in front of us, and we're not satisfied.

But when you get to a stage like this, people that are reaching out, it does mean a lot, and I am thankful.

Q. For whatever reason statistically speaking, Jamal struggles against the Heat. I'm wondering what your thought is behind that. And then more broadly, do you take anything from regular-season matchups and apply it to a postseason series?

MICHAEL MALONE: I'm not really sure in terms of Jamal's stats over the last few years against Miami. I know we as a team have had good stats against Miami, which is the most important thing. It's the collective and not the individual.

We know they're a very good defensive team. We know, more than Minnesota, Phoenix and L.A., we're going to see a lot more different types of defenses, things that we've worked on the last few days.

But one thing I do know about Jamal, if he has a bad game or somebody is doing something to take him out of his game, he's going to figure it out. I think in just these 15 games that we've played in this postseason, I think we've seen that quite a few times in each round.

Teams think they've kind of figured him out or an individual defender may think they've figured him out, and then Jamal will just go into a 23-point fourth quarter or score 30 points in the first half, whatever it may be.

I have all the confidence in the world that Jamal is going to be ready for this stage.

Q. Obviously Nikola's physical transformation has been very public, but what have you noticed about his basketball IQ and how that has carried him through all stages of his playing career?

MICHAEL MALONE: That's been the constant, from that first Summer League in Vegas up until today. You could tell early on that he had a very good feel for the game, a high IQ. He was not only a willing passer, but I think he's always taken more joy in making plays for his teammates than he does for himself.

Whether he was maybe not in the best shape of his life or he got in peak conditioning, that never changed. I think that's kind of the one constant.

When you couple that IQ with maturation and developing into a leader and finding his voice, now I think you're getting just the best possible Nikola Jokic on every front -- the mental, the physical and the intangible of being a leader for a team that obviously has a ton of respect for what he has to say.

Q. Michael, I know you're going to say this is about the players, of course, but you've waited a long time for this moment, as well. Without asking what you're going to say pregame, how much have you, I guess, looked forward to whatever it is you're going to say before they head out of the locker room and get out there for the first time on this stage?

MICHAEL MALONE: It's really funny, I was hanging out with one of my daughters last night, and she said, Are you nervous? And I said, You know what's really funny? I'm not. I said, I think the reason that I'm not nervous is because I know we're prepared.

When you are prepared, that allows you to go into whatever fight or battle you're about to embark upon feeling really confident about what you're doing.

I know this is the Finals and this is Game 1. I never knew this part of the building existed. So I'm learning new things about a lot of things.

But I'm trying to make -- this is just another step. This is just another game for us to stay true to ourselves and deliver the same message and be consistent because I think that's important for our guys.

I wasn't lying in my bed tossing and turning. I went to bed last night and I felt really comfortable with where we are. I think my players and the coaches on my staff have a ton to do with that, me feeling the way I feel right now, because they've been tremendous.

I gave them a quiz today, a very detailed quiz at shootaround, and I was really impressed by our guys mentally and where they're at. I could tell that they're really locked in.

I'm sure I speak for Miami, as well; our guys just can't wait for the jump ball to go up and get back to competing. It's been a long time, 10 days, I believe, since we've had a chance to compete at the highest level, so I think our guys are excited for that opportunity.

Q. Yesterday Erik Spoelstra mentioned the bubble and how often his Heat staff and your staff bumped into each other. Do you recall that the same? And then what's your enduring, lasting image of being in the bubble?

MICHAEL MALONE: It is accurate. I was jealous because every time I saw the Heat staff, they had like three or four bottles of wine. They were sitting in the middle of one of the little lakes there in our detention center.

Then there's this loop around where we were, and every night like me and Spo would run into each other. I would be on my bike, he would be walking and we'd get to talking to each other. We were in Africa together for one of the BWB trips. We have a relationship. We have a respect for each other.

Obviously you look at his body of work and his career, I think most coaches would aspire to do, accomplish what Erik has accomplished.

Yes, they had a guy, I forget the coach's name, but this guy was catching all the fish, so there's no fish left for anybody else. What was the second part of your question?

Q. Your lasting image of the bubble --

MICHAEL MALONE: Lasting image, yeah. Eighty-three days in the bubble away from family, away from friends, and probably I think the biggest thing I can take away from being in the bubble was just how proud I was of our group.

If you recall, we were down 3-1, not just the first round, but the second round. A lot of people have said since the bubble ended that they just wanted to get the hell out of there. And our guys had ample opportunity to let go of the rope and say, Man, I am tired of this, I want to go home. Especially down 3-1. They never did that. They stayed the course.

That to me was so impressive to be a part of a group that believed, never gave up and fought its way to a Western Conference Finals. Just how proud I was of that group is probably what I take more than anything.

Q. Michael, how often do you give your players a quiz at shootaround, and what were you looking to gain out of that? How did Joker or Jamal respond to the quiz?

MICHAEL MALONE: I do it often. It's funny, when you're a young coach, you're always trying to learn from other people and other great coaches and take things from them.

I remember reading something about Pat Riley, and he talked how he would quiz his players often. You think the main reason you're quizzing them is to see if they are locked in, focused and paying attention. That's part of it.

But I thought the second part of Pat Riley's reasoning for doing that was really -- what stuck with me is that it also allows you to see if you're doing your job as a coach. If they don't know the answers, you've failed, not just them.

It is something that, being around Jeff Van Gundy, being around coaches throughout my career, quizzing them, keeping them on their toes, keeping them sharp, making sure they're locked in. And at this stage, we can't be spoon-feeding guys. They have to take accountability and ownership for themselves. That's why I said this morning our guys were pretty impressive because every question that I asked was answered with a correct answer.

Q. You guys had a much longer break now. Do you think you're in a better situation because you're better recovered?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, we're going to find out. It's going to be one of two things. They have tremendous rhythm. They played a seven-game Eastern Conference championship. We've had 10 days off.

In the 10 days, we've tried to be really smart with giving guys a break, with the delicate balance of, while giving them a break mentally and physically, also making sure we're conditioned and maintaining our rhythm as best as possible.

You can't replicate game rhythm without playing a game. We tried to do the best job we could do. So we're going to find out.

Going into the first round against Minnesota we had the same thing, like a week to get ready, not knowing who we were playing. Our guys attacked that week with the same voracity as we did this past week.

I expect our guys to be fully ready to go out there and be excited to play in front of the best fans in the world.

Q. I'm wondering how at this stage of your coaching career have you gotten used to the notion of process having to continue to be what you believe in? Whether you win or lose, you're coaching your team the right way, they're responding. But if you lose in this era, you know what happens. Coaches with great winning percentages get fired, and it just seems different now than it was a few years ago. I wonder how you stay true to, I'm going to do what I think is right, and if we win, we win, if we lose, we lose, I have to live with that.

MICHAEL MALONE: I think that's where your principles come into play. When you have principles that you believe in and you bring to work every day, regardless of the result, regardless of the outcome, based on that result, you can go home that night and know you did the best job to the best of your ability.

You're right, in this last month or so you see the guys that have gotten fired and their achievements and their track record. I can't say it's surprising. I grew up in this business. I saw my father get fired. I've been fired. It's kind of something that you know is going to happen at some point.

But I think for me, it's staying true to yourself and not compromising yourself ever. And if you do that, I think your body of work will speak for itself.

Like Monty Williams. Good friend. Congratulations. I've got to hit him up, I need a loan. But Monty is doing all right for himself. He got fired in Phoenix. Okay, well, Detroit realized here's a guy that is not only a great coach but more importantly he's going to be a great example for our team and help a bunch of young players.

So that's all you want. If it doesn't work out in one place, you know that 29 other teams are watching to see maybe that guy could work here.

The last thing I'll say on this is, and I have to say it because it's true, for me, I've been very fortunate. Tim Connelly hired me and Josh and Stan Kroenke have believed in me since day one and have allowed me to get to this point.

Most coaches don't get eight years. Right now it's Pop, it's Spo, it's Steve Kerr and myself. The fact that I'm one of the top four longest-tenured coaches, that has a ton to do with where we are today.

I couldn't be more thankful for working for an ownership group that is not impatient and is not trying to find the next great thing, but, hey, listen, let's let this grow and marinate into something special. I've benefited from that.

Q. It's hard enough for stars to maintain their excellence this time of year and as the rounds go on. How do you explain Jokic and Murray both seeming to level up as the stakes get higher? Is it an endurance thing? Is it a mentality? What do you see in there being with them?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, I think it's a really interesting question. For Nikola, starting with him, that's probably the thing I marvel at most is over eight years, how consistently great he has been. For him to do it every single night, that is a talent. That is a skill that only historically great players are able to do every night, bring that greatness.

To your point, to be averaging a triple-double in the NBA Playoffs heading into the Finals, I think only a few guys named Wilt and Magic have done that in the past. So he's up there with the greatest players of all time.

And with Jamal, I think the last time we saw this was when we were in the bubble. That was the last Playoffs he participated in prior to this year. For Jamal, it just seems like as the stakes get higher and the stage gets bigger, he embraces that. He doesn't shy away from that.

I think more than anything, it's a mentality. It's an inner belief and a confidence that they have in themselves and their teammates, and they go out there and continue to show and prove every single night.

That's why I'm just so excited to watch our team in these Finals. We know it's going to be the hardest challenge of our lives. KCP is the only world champion on our team, and hopefully in the next couple of weeks we can find a way to bring the first championship here to Denver.