Malone using All-star Weekend for “people to get to know us”
C H A RLOTT E , N.C.» A roar erupted from the fans only minutes into Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s news conference Saturday.
A reporter informed Malone that the commotion was because Lebron James had just entered the court for his media obligation.
“Oh, I thought they put me on the big screen,” Malone quipped. “I thought that’s what it was.”
It was a microcosm of how the Nuggets want to use this weekend. Aside from enjoying the festivities and celebrating Nikola Jokic’s first all-star appearance, they want use it to put Denver on the map.
“I think it’s great for our staff to be around all these guys, learn from them, get to know them,” Malone said. “I’m using this as a weekend for people to get to know us, know what I mean? Because we think that Denver is on the verge of something special and hopefully some people are going to want to be a part of that.”
It began Friday night when WNBA legend (and recent addition to the Nuggets’ front office) Sue Bird coached in the celebrity game. She asked Monte Morris, one of the most prominent Rising Star snubs, to be her top assistant. An hour later, Nuggets lead assistant Wes Unseld Jr. captained the World team full of international stars like Luka Doncic, Ben Simmons and Lauri Markkanen. Also on the bench was Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki.
“I said jokingly for him to do the pregame talk, and he took it and ran with it,” said Unseld Jr. “(Dirk) drew up a couple of plays. It was kind of fun to watch him struggle a little bit, kind of get him out of his box.”
In the middle of all the revelry, Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke announced extensions for the entire front office. The timing with Allstar weekend was hardly coincidental. Kroenke and his father, Stan, sat courtside Saturday at the Bojangles’ Coliseum as Malone took Team Lebron through a lighthearted practice ahead of Sunday’s showcase. Potential free agent Kevin Durant and Lebron James each stopped over and greeted them warmly.
The Nuggets have their humble superstar in Jokic – who fielded questions from everything to his favorite video game to his MVP front-runners Saturday — and they have a young core that hasn’t yet tapped into its immense potential. Few situations in the NBA are as promising.
“We know we’re not New York City, Miami, L.A., Chicago,” Malone said. “We feel in Denver we have a lot to offer. We’ve got a great team, we’ve got a great ownership group and we’re heading in the right direction. That’s really all I care about.”
Malone joked about benching Lebron early in Sunday’s All-star Game, but he’s under no misconception. He knows the game and the weekend is for the players. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a certain level of respect earned by being a small part of it.
“I definitely think people view you in a different light,” Malone said. “They give you a little bit more credibility, little bit more respect. One thing I love about our group is that we don’t need it. If you don’t want to give it to us, so what, man, we don’t care. We’re going to create our own respect, we’re going to do what we do, and ultimately teams will take notice, people will take notice.”