Don’t mess with Michael Malone, partner.
Combative by nature, Malone walks into a gym with the make-it, take-it attitude of a hooper raised on New York City asphalt. But the Nuggets coach also understands some battles are won with hugs, and players won’t listen to the screaming if they don’t know you care about more than their assist-to-turnover ratio.
In addition to being the son of a coach kept humble by critiques in late-night texts after every game, Malone can also be a son of a gun when his team stops playing defense or a journalist makes the mistake of calling him Mike.