The Denver Nuggets are starting to go mainstream.
Last night, after the team’s exciting win over the Utah Jazz, NBATV’s Gametime crew spent an entire segment discussing the Nuggets and their ascent to the top of the Western Conference standings. David Griffin, the former general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers who helped bring the city of Cleveland their first championship in over 50 years, had some very interesting things to say about the development of Nikola Jokic and his relationship with Nuggets head coach, Michael Malone.
“What’s really special about Jokic, he’s very much like a big version of James Harden. You just don’t speed him up. He plays at his pace all of the time, you’re never going to make him uncomfortable. He’s always going to make sound decisions with the ball, and even when he was…I feel silly even talking about it and saying he’s not young now because he certainly is, but when he first came into the league, he had such a playfulness, he never understood when it was time to get serious. And Michael Malone and his staff have them locked in now, these young kids understand there’s a time to play, and there’s a time to play. And right now they are bringing it on both ends of the floor.”
Check out the full segment below. There’s a great discussion on the team and what makes this year so special, their upside as a team that doesn’t even need a playbook, and much more.
