Denver coach Michael Malone believes he owes a debt of gratitude to Gregg Popovich for helping jump-start his coaching career.
It was Popovich’s recommendation, Malone said, that helped him land a job on Mike Brown’s staff in Cleveland in 2005. He also credits Popovich for helping him earn his first NBA head coaching job with Sacramento in 2013.
The two first met in the mid-2000s, on a trip to an NBA camp in Argentina.
“After many, many bottles of wine to took a liking to me,” Malone recalled before the Spurs’ game tonight against the Nuggets, and was willing to go to bat for me.