Michael Malone blows up at ‘stupid question’ after Nuggets collapse
May 19, 2024, 11:23 PM
DENVER—The Denver Nuggets season came to an abrupt end on Sunday night, suffering the worst collapse in a Game 7 in NBA history to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Mile High City head coach Michael Malone couldn’t offer up much of an explanation, instead taking out his anger on a reporter’s “stupid questions.”
Malone unable to stop the Wolves’ massive run that turned a 58-38 Nuggets lead into a 98-90 Wolves win, wasn’t able to control the narrative postgame either.
“I’ll have to back and watch the film,” Malone said.
A reporter asked how hard it is to blow the lead and lose.
“Next question, the season’s over man,” Malone said. “F*** being up 20. The season’s over, you don’t understand that. It’s hard, the season is over. Stupid a** questions.”
*Warning: Explicit language in the clip below.*
Malone just finished his ninth season leading the Nuggets, coaching them to the franchise’s first title a season ago. He took some of the blame for the team’s rough offense and overall tiredness on Sunday night. He expanded by saying that the team was pretty gassed after playing so hard down the stretch of the season.
Still, Malone believes that the team will compete for championships in the coming years behind three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
“It’s hard to repeat, it’s hard to win,” Malone said. “And we all got to do whatever it takes to not have this feeling again next year. But I’m very proud of the entire team. All 18 players, everything they sacrificed since Labor Day, I’m very proud and thankful for the coaching staff and for the ownership group that we have, and this is just a momentary delay. failure is not fatal. We’ll be back.”
Malone: “I consider the Spurs a dynasty… this is just a momentary delay. Failure is not fatal… can we use this as motivation moving forward?” pic.twitter.com/5Z8xZ81Jhd
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 20, 2024
The Wolves will meet the underseeded Dallas Mavericks, who have pulled two upsets en route to the Western Conference Finals. The two will play for a trip to the NBA Finals, where the winner will likely meet the Boston Celtics.
