A journey through the early years of the discovery – by the Denver coach – of Sombor’s talent. The first challenge against Tim Duncan, away, as a rookie (“The light bulb went on there”) and the match in Dallas in which Malone understood that it was no longer possible to keep his Serbian center on the bench
The Denver Nuggets are in their first final in their history, and Michael Malone he knows that the main responsible for this historical result is his n°15, Nikola Jokic. “I always say that I haven’t had the chance to coach Tim Duncan, but Nikola reminds me of Duncan: due altruistic superstar. For Nikola, as it was for Tim from what I’ve heard, it’s never a personal matter: he doesn’t want people to just look at him, how strong he is – in fact, he’s almost embarrassed by this kind of attention. Jokic doesn’t try to be anyone else but Jokic: a player who plays for the Denver Nuggets, who wants to do everything to make his team win, with class and in a professional way. He never comes first: and this is rare“. A few seconds pass, and Jokic sits down at the same table, who confirms the comparison with the former number 21 of Spurs: “Yes, I tried to model my game on that of Tim Duncan, one of the strongest big forwards of all time. When I met him she wasn’t younger yet, and yet he did everything with apparent ease – I think I conceded the 20 points scored most naturally of my career. I think he’s a great player to take as an example.”
Malone on Jokic: “When my light bulb went on”
And from one direct confrontation – the first of their career – with Duncan coach Malone’s first enlightenment also arrives on the Serbian talent called with the No. 41 in the Draft a few months earlier. “There was a match to St. Anthony, in his rookie yearin which he put together crazy numbers: 25 or 26 points, something like 12 or 13 rebounds, 6 or 7 assists. Against Tim Duncan [le cifre esatte sono 23 punti e 12 rimbalzi, ma senza assist, ndr]. It is at that moment that my light bulb went on: not only did he do what he just did, but he did it on the road, playing against that type of opponent [Duncan] in the team coached by that gentleman [Popovich]. This guy really has a chance to be specialI thought”.
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No more reserve
Then Coach Malone recalls another key moment, in his journey as coach of Nikola Jokic. “I remember the date very well: December 12, 2016, a trip to Dallas. We were still trying to get Jusuf Nurkic, our owner, and Nikola, who started from the bench, to play together“. Only that the “reserve” Jokic that day shoots 10/12 from the field, 7/7 free throws, grabs 11 rebounds and finishes with 27 points in less than 27 minutes. “He has been the owner since then“, concludes Malone. And he hasn’t stopped since, one would say. Two NBA MVP titles and now his first assault on the NBA ring. To be continued.
2023-06-01 00:32:47
#NBA #coach #Malone #Jokic #selfless #superstar #reminds #Tim #Duncan
