Denver Nuggets new head coach Michael Malone answers questions at a press conference June 16, 2015 at Pepsi Center. ()
On Wednesday, new Nuggets coach Michael Malone was given a chance to clarify his relationship with former Sacramento general manager Pete D’Alessandro, now back with the Nuggets as senior vice president of business.
In an interview with The Denver Post, Malone said there were a lot of misconceptions, and that the two are on good terms.
“You would be surprised how many messages I got when they hired Pete here, paraphrasing: ‘Ah, coach, that sucks. I really hoped you were going to get the Denver job, but that’s not going to happen now,'” Malone said. “People don’t realize, Pete and I never had any problems.”
D’Alessandro fired Malone as head coach of the Kings just 24 games into last season. Malone’s release came after the team had started well, out to a 5-1 record. Sacramento was 9-6 when the team’s best player, center DeMarcus Cousins, missed three weeks due to viral meningitis. They won just two of the next nine games after Cousins’ exit, and the Kings let Malone go.
“Pete and I have always respected each other, have always gotten along,” Malone said. “It was just that sometimes, the environment that we were working in was not conducive to a healthy relationship.”
Malone said it never bothered him that he was up for the head coaching job when the Nuggets re-hired D’Alessandro.
“I’m not going to get into too many details, but I wasn’t worried about it because the reality is I would never had gotten an interview in the first place because Josh and Pete are close. Josh brought Pete back. If Pete was killing me, and Pete was saying ‘He’s a bad coach, he’s a bad guy, the players hated him, I didn’t like working with him,’ they never would have interviewed me. Or maybe they would have gotten the first interview, but I never would have been brought back and sat in Josh Kroenke’s living room, petting his two bulldogs.
“So the fact that I think Pete and I both reflect on our time together and say, ‘You know what, this was an unfortunate situation that didn’t end well. And I think what happened after I left validated the job me and my staff were doing. That’s kind of the best way to put it.
D’Alessandro seconded Malone’s comments.
“Michael and I, from the time he left our last place of employment, we actually continued our relationship,” D’Alessandro said. “We continued our conversation and dialogue. We’d always held a great deal of respect for each other. I think the world of him and his family. Sometimes, perception is not always reality. It’s been good to kind of have him back here and we’ve really enjoyed our time together so far.”
Meanwhile, as for his time in Sacramento? Malone views it as unfinished business.
“It’s unfortunate because I always think about ‘what if,’ because we were headed in the right direction,” Malone said. “I felt really good where we were. The players were getting better, career numbers for a lot of guys. We were winning, we were competitive. They bought in, the fans loved it. They were finally proud of the team, and it was cut short. I hold no ill will. I’m not sitting there saying I hope they lose. I’m thankful for that opportunity, but I’ll learn from that opportunity, that experience, and be a better man for it.”
He said he looks forward to working with the Nuggets tight-knit decision-making group.
“What excited me about this job is, it’s not too many voices: It’s Josh (Kroenke), it’s Tim (Connelly), it’s me,” Malone said. “And as long as we’re all pulling in the right direction and constantly communicating with each other…not every day will we be hugging each other. There needs to be some disagreement, there needs to be some challenging of each other. Obviously, most importantly, when we leave that room we’re a united front. I’m excited about this.”
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
