Malone on LeBron’s draft: “Even I can’t screw that up”

PHILADELPHIA» Nuggets coach Michael Malone knows that he’s going to be an innocent bystander for next Sunday’s NBA AllStar Game.

The game is about the players, not the coaches tasked with figuring out the substitution patterns.

It’s for that reason that he didn’t mind missing Thursday’s much-publicized All-Star draft, even as the coach of Team LeBron.

“It’s funny, I was walking to get something to eat, my wife called me up,” Malone recounted from shootaround Friday. “She was sitting down to watch it. I was like, ‘What are you watching that for?’ ”

Captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo took part in the first-ever televised All-Star draft, which proved to be a TNT ratings success. James beefed up his lineup with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, while Antetokounmpo picked an international flair to his roster, including Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

“Obviously, it would’ve been nice to be on the same team, but the way the draft is, with having the guys drafted, people like think I’m actually worried about who LeBron drafts,” Malone said. “That’s a hell of a team. Even I can’t screw that up.”

Malone said last week he’d throw a flood of double-teams in Jokic’s direction if the two weren’t on the same team. Now he’s going to get the chance.

“I think it’s better that way,” Malone joked. “I’m sick of coaching him, he’s sick of playing for me. We’ll give each other a break for a few days.”

Jokic, the third reserve picked, didn’t watch the draft live, either. He laughed at the potential of running point guard for a lineup of Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Vucevic and Khris Middleton, All-Stars who all stand 6-foot-8 or taller.

“That would be fun,” Jokic quipped.