Michael Malone can’t get enough of Russ.
The 10th-year Nuggets coach arrived at Ball Arena for work around 8 a.m. Saturday and found Russell Westbrook already in the gym, working out. Practice wasn’t starting until 11.
When Malone subbed Westbrook out of the team’s scrimmage a few hours later, he was taken aback by the immediate increase in sideline intensity. Westbrook was shouting at his teammates to push harder, cheering them on from the bench, practically coaching.
For the second day in a row, Malone’s end-of-practice interview scrum started with him bringing up Westbrook, unprompted. There have only been two days of practice.
“We went hard yesterday, and I was a little worried to see what kind of legs we were gonna have today,” Malone said. “But our guys came in ready to play, compete. And obviously a guy like that (pointing to Westbrook) just kind of turns the volume up, ‘Spinal Tap,’ to 11.”
The risk in signing Westbrook after his stint with the Clippers naturally involved the unpredictability of this stage in his career — he’s practically Stonehenge, in NBA years — but so far at training camp, the Nuggets have been swept away by his work ethic and general aura. By the end of Saturday’s session, Malone was telling injured rookie DaRon Holmes II to study Westbrook’s practice habits and learn from them.
“It’s not something he’s trying to be,” the coach said. “That’s every day.”
Malone’s movie reference was apt. The Nuggets don’t need Westbrook to be an electric guitar solo. They just need him to be the amplifier.
The leadership. The speed. The passion. The stuff Russ relishes. Denver’s young bench lacked a spark plug last year, someone who lends identity and initiative to the unit simply by having the ball in his hands.
Westbrook knows exactly what he wants when it’s in his. He wants to run.
“Being able to keep the pace high as much as I can, keep guys running, get these looks — that’s part of my game that I’m able to bring, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “Make sure Julian (Strawther) gets open shots, open 3s. That’s part of my job. I’m able to do that at a high level, and I’ll continue doing that as much as they need me to.”
As enamored as Malone has been, Westbrook seems even more into the Nuggets’ vision for him. The 35-year-old cast a hint of shade during his praise of Malone when he was asked Saturday about his skill set being more distinct on Denver’s roster than it was in Los Angeles.
“To be honest, it was unique,” Westbrook said. “They just didn’t put me in a position to make it unique. I was in a position where I was playing not my position. And being able to be here, and Coach Malone allowing me to be able to use my speed, use my transition skill to be able to make other guys better, makes the game easy for everybody surrounding me. That’s what I love to do best.”
As Westbrook spoke to reporters, Strawther wandered over from the practice court as if to listen, catching his attention. “What’s up, Jule?” he called out. “You need something?”
“I’m just trying to get some more wisdom,” Strawther said.
Malone talks Olympics, comments on Joel Embiid’s national team switch
While discussing the success of the basketball tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Malone snuck in a comment about Joel Embiid’s controversial choice of national team.
The 30-year-old center was born in Cameroon and has lived in the U.S. since he was 16. But The Athletic reported in March that Embiid had told officials with the French national team he wanted to play for France, leading to a bypassed process in which he was granted citizenship and a passport. Embiid then chose to play for Team USA, leading to consistent jeers from French fans throughout the Olympics.
“We all know that the international game has grown so much in the last decade, when you have guys like Nikola and Luka (Doncic) and Giannis (Antetokounmpo),” Malone said Saturday. “And I don’t know what country Joel Embiid’s gonna (play for) — I mean, that’s kind of a weird one.”
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Embiid has long been regarded as a foil to Jokic due to both players’ status as MVP-caliber big men in the same generation. Nuggets fans have ridiculed him for not playing in the 76ers’ annual game at Denver four consecutive seasons, despite having suited up against the Nuggets in Philadelphia three times during that stretch.
Embiid and Team USA defeated Jokic’s Serbian squad twice during the Olympics, but Serbia came closer than any other team to upsetting the heavy favorites in a stirring semifinal. Jokic had 17 points and 11 assists in the loss, while Embiid played his best game of the tournament (19 points, 8-of-11 shooting). Malone was monitoring the score from his phone while waiting to board a connecting flight to Greece for his wedding anniversary. He noticed others doing the same.
“The game is truly a global game,” he said. “Obviously America took home a hard-fought gold medal. And obviously from a personal standpoint, to see what Nikola did — first time in NBA history a player led the Olympics in points, rebounds and assists — that’s just something that we’ve come to expect every night from Nikola. But he’s just remarkable on any stage, in any setting.”
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