NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 12, 2023

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Game 5: Pregame

Q. This might sound silly, but how much does the idea that you guys are down 3-1, as opposed to up 3-1, how much does that idea work when you convey that to your players, and have you sensed that hunger and desperation you were talking about yesterday?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, we're going to find out. It's easy to talk about, but it will be evident early in the game to see if we are playing with that desperation and that urgency that we need to if we are going to close it out tonight here at home.

But our guys have shown just great focus and discipline throughout the entirety of these playoffs. I think it's 19 playoff games we've played, and from the lead-in week to the first round against Minnesota and throughout, and today, in our shootaround, our guys have been really locked in, focused, and I think they all fully understand what we have and the opportunity that we have in front of us.

It's not going to be easy, you know, as I told our team, right when we beat the Lakers. This is going to be the hardest thing that we have ever done. KCP is the only guy in that room that's won a championship, and tonight is going to be another example of us trying to achieve something that none of us have achieved, and I think all the guys are excited for the opportunity.

Q. You talked about yesterday how grateful you were that ownership showed the patience it did through all of the ups and downs and bumps in the road, allowing you guys to become what you are now. Curious about the genesis of that patience. Is that something that you asked for? How did that come about?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, that's probably a question best served for Stan [Kroenke] and Josh [Kroenke]. I am the beneficiary of that patience, and I'm very, very thankful for that.

You know, Tim Connelly hired me and brought me to the table here, and my countless conversations in my seven years with Tim, we would always talk about how we had the luxury of working for a group with Stan and Josh and the Kroenke family that is not going to be just a quick trigger. We have to make a move. We have to make a move. They were willing to take a step back and see this thing through.

So I'm not really sure where it's from. They own so many different sports teams around the world, but I think it's just in their nature, to be honest. I have gotten a chance to know Stan, know Josh. They are very calm, cool, collected. They don't react. And I'm really thankful for that, and I think our players are, too, because we wouldn't be in this moment if that had not been the course that they chose.

Q. There's a report that Tyler Herro may suit up tonight. How does that change your preparation, if at all, and having a wrinkle that might be thrown in late in the series?

MICHAEL MALONE: To be honest, doesn't change anything. If they throw him out there, they throw him out there. But our approach is the same, our game plan is the same, and our energy, discipline and communication have to be the same.

Q. Where did you take your leadership approach as a coach? Who did you take things from throughout your coaching career that you have applied here in Denver?

MICHAEL MALONE: You know, I think end of the day, you have to be true to yourself. Something I learned from my mother and father at an early age. So I've never tried to be someone I'm not. I'm not Gregg Popovich. I'm not Steve Kerr. I have to be me.

But I feel really fortunate that my father was a CYO coach, a high school coach, a college coach and a pro coach, and seeing him on a day-to-day basis. And then being around coaches like Pete Gillen, who I worked for in college; Greg Kampe at Oakland University, Bobby Gonzalez.

And then Jeff Van Gundy brought me in the league. It wasn't a long time with Jeff, but I learned so much in that brief time with Coach Van Gundy. And then I worked with Mike Brown in Cleveland, and obviously I took a lot from Mike and Mike was so impactful to my career. I wouldn't be a head coach if it wasn't for Mike Brown and the opportunities that he gave me.

I worked for Monty Williams, Mark Jackson. So I think when you are a young coach, you want to be everything, and as you get older and you mature, it kind of funnels down and funnels down and then you kind of create your obvious identity of what you want to be and what you believe in.

I've had the luxury of being around great coaches my whole life, and you couple that with just staying true to my own self, and then here you go.

Q. I guess how nice is it during this run to kind of maybe mingle and meet and unite with some former Nuggets and just people of the past?

MICHAEL MALONE: I haven't really seen or been able to mingle. I'm not a big mingler. I do my job; I go home.

But I know for me what is special is when we're on this journey, I am thankful for Doug Moe and the guys that -- players and coaches that were here in the past that have never gotten this far but I know are so proud of what we've achieved to this point.

So guys like Doug Moe, Dan Issel, Alex English, David Thompson, you can go on and on about naming all the guys that have worn this jersey or coached this team and done a hell of a job in doing so. But not much mingling to this point. We'll see what happens.

Q. You mentioned funneling things down. Did you find yourself funneling things down even as recent as this year just to get through this far of a run?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, I think for me, you always have to challenge yourself to look in the mirror and get better, and that's something I think myself and the coaching staff throughout eight years have done every season.

Whenever that previous season is over, we take some time away, and then we get back together in the summer and we take a really honest, in-depth look and figure out, what are our weaknesses, what are our blind spots, how do we improve.

It's hypothetical to tell all your players to come back better players but you not being willing to come back as a better coach.

I remember a few years ago sitting down with Wes Unseld [Jr.] and looking a lot at our defense and coming to the realization that we had to simplify things. I think if you simplify things and just are aggressive, the players can go out and do that. You want them going out there and playing and being active instead of thinking.

So I think definitely, we continue to, even after this run, whenever it ends, we'll find a way to look at ourselves and try to be even better next season.

Q. I have a simple question for you: Did you sleep last night? You're five hours away of hoisting a culmination of a life's work?

MICHAEL MALONE: I slept like a baby. I got up every two hours and cried, you know what I mean. (Laughter).

It's funny, I go back to Game 1 in this series and my daughter said to me, my youngest daughter said, "Are you nervous?"

I was like, really, at that point, I was not nervous. I was excited about the opportunity. I think the reason that myself, our coaches, our players, are not nervous is because we worked so hard to get here, and we are prepared.

I think that's the most important thing. Our guys are locked in, and we know tonight is going to be a hell of a challenge. We know it's going to be an amazing atmosphere in front of the best fans in the world.

But all you can do is the work, and then you've got to trust that process to carry it through, and we have great players that I feel really confident are willing and able to do that.