In an NBA that rarely favors patience, the Denver Nuggets’ determination to build a sustainable project finally came to fruition.
Most teams would’ve fired coach Mike Malone after years of playoff shortcomings, regardless of how well he fared during the regular season or how he had managed to develop their star players.
That wasn’t the case in Denver, and it paid off when he led them to their very first trip to the NBA Finals — and NBA Championship — last season.
Now, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that the Nuggets have agreed to sign him to a contract extension that will make him one of the league’s highest-paid coaches, and rightfully so.
ESPN Sources: The Denver Nuggets’ Michael Malone — who led the franchise to the 2023 NBA championship — has agreed on a contract extension that’ll make him one of the league’s highest paid coaches. pic.twitter.com/klyGsLSYKO
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 13, 2023
Coach Malone and the front office put together an almost-flawless team.
They made sound moves to complement their roster perfectly, not to mention the fact that he was the one who saw just how special Nikola Jokic could be, and the one who put the rock in his hands and just allowed him to do his thing.
Malone and the Nuggets dominated their way through the playoffs.
He made tweaks and in-game adjustments when the Los Angeles Lakers threatened to get close in the Western Conference Finals, and more than that, he showed the players that he cared as much as they did and that he would run through a brick wall for them.
The Nuggets will continue to be a powerhouse for the foreseeable future, and props to the ownership and the front office for not being like most teams and giving their coach the benefit of the doubt.
