Nuggets Journal: The evolution of All-Stars Nikola Jokic and Michael Malone
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SALT LAKE CITY — Nuggets head coach Michael Malone emerged from behind a black curtain long after Nikola Jokic had begun indulging questions from a throng of eager media members.
As Malone settled into the dais to Jokic’s right, he looked at several local media members and asked them where their loyalties were: with the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the NBA or with the two-time MVP.
No one budged.
It’s largely because of Jokic, who’s amid another record-setting season, that he and Malone were back on the All-Star stage together for the first time since 2019. Back then, Jokic was a first-time All-Star and not on the shortlist for the best player in the world.
While flying to Utah, Malone remarked there were a lot more kids running around than the first time they made the shared jaunt to North Carolina. Between his niece, nephew, and daughter, the Jokic clan has only grown.
“We’re a kind of big pack,” he said on the eve of his 28th birthday, which he wasn’t eager to celebrate.
“Hopefully it’s gonna go fast,” Joker quipped. “I get sad on my birthday. I’m getting old.”
The plane ride also offered a window into how deep their relationship has grown and how it’s evolved.
“It’s funny how life changes so quickly,” Malone said.
Malone said they talked about kids, family and Jokic’s future, understanding that basketball laid the foundation of their shared partnership.
“He said coach, and he was being serious, ‘I’ll be a great assistant coach,’” Malone said. “He goes, ‘I don’t want to be a head coach because it’s too much BS.’”
Malone’s ears perked up, vowing to hire him if he ever got the chance.
“I can’t promise how much I’m gonna pay you,” Malone quipped back.
Their relationship — forged in humor, accountability, honesty and success — has put the Nuggets on the precipice of the rarest of air in the NBA. It’s certainly nowhere near where they were in 2019, when Jokic was only beginning to tap into his immense potential.
“I think the thing that’s changed from the Charlotte time is I think now we’re seen in a different light,” Malone said. “Last five years, no one’s won more games than us (in the West), we have a two-time MVP — about to be a three-time MVP — and we’re the No. 1 team in the West by five games with 23 games to go. If that doesn’t bring you respect, I don’t know what will. The great thing about it is, we’re not worried about all that. We’re just focused on trying to bring a championship to Denver. That’s what motivates all of us.”
Beyond the championship, which is top of mind for everyone in Denver’s organization, it’s the relationships within that that make it worthwhile. At All-Star practice Saturday afternoon, Malone held extended conversations with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (an All-NBA candidate, according to Malone), Portland star Damian Lillard and injured forward Zion Williamson.
“It’s about relationships,” Malone said. “I don’t know Zion. I wanted to get to know Zion, talk to him, let him know I hope he gets healthy again.”
While some players showed off their shooting range at Saturday’s practice, Jokic wandered aimlessly around the court, unsure of what to do with himself. Part of the time he spent seated, chatting with Luka Doncic. At another moment, he plopped himself next to Nuggets assistant coach Ogi Stojakovic on the scorer’s table, indifferent to the noise and excitement surrounding him.
As much as he might not appreciate all that comes along with being one of the faces of the NBA, there’s an ease about him that suggests he understands who he is now.
“I see him (act), ‘I deserve to be here, I’m an MVP,’” Malone said. “Not that he walks around saying, ‘I’m an MVP,’ but I think he’s gotten really comfortable with the other great players in this league, on top of being on this stage.”
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