Let the education of Emmanuel Mudiay begin. At 19 years old, he could be a sophomore in college rather than holding down a job with the Nuggets that pays him a $3.1 million salary. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but it definitely won’t be easy money.
Learning to play point guard in the NBA can be as stressful as any weed-out course on an Ivy League campus, and there will be nights when a rising star crashes and burns.
“You can’t let it get to you,” Mudiay told me.
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What will determine whether Mudiay is indeed the one to lead both the fast break and the downtrodden Nuggets’ revival is the toughness of his mind, even more so than the beauty of his passes. For clues to Mudiay’s true potential as a franchise player, his body language during bad times will count as much as his stat line in games the rookie tears it up.
There is so much stuff along the NBA road that can stick to the sole of a player’s shoes, and Mudiay can’t let any of that deter his stubborn belief that a championship in Denver is more than an impossible dream.
And, to be sure, the stuff will start from the opening tip, when in his first regular-season game Mudiay must deal with Ty Lawson, certain to be all hopped up on a mix of bitterness and vengeance. The learning opportunity for Mudiay is: Don’t be that guy.
Don’t be Lawson, whose embarrassing missteps forced the Nuggets to dump him in a trade with Houston. Lawson won a championship in college but forgot why he fell in love with hoops while getting caught up in the NBA life.
“We know what Ty is going to try to do, from jump street. He’s going to try to send a very loud message, and good for him,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, well aware the divorce between Lawson and Denver was messy. “We are going to try to send a message as well: We feel we have a hell of a player in Emmanuel.”
Acquiring Mudiay in the draft made Lawson expendable. But this grudge match for Lawson, however, is nothing more than another day in the education of Mudiay.
The great NBA player Mudiay should study on video until the whites of his eyes turn red is Jason Kidd. As a point guard of uncommon court vision and undeniable physical strength, Kidd patiently refined his jump shot through the years while being named to the All-Star Game 10 times and winning a ring along the way.
You will hear endless talk about how Mudiay’s jumper is a work in progress, but that yada, yada, yada misses the real point. Far more crucial to his confidence as a rookie will be learning to finish consistently at the rim.
“No league in the world — in college, China, Europe — can prepare you for the NBA with the size and athleticism these guys have,” Malone said.
“Hey, if I’m missing a couple a shots, my tendency is: ‘I’ve got to get to the basket and get an easy one.’ Then, all of a sudden, if you’re missing jump shots and you’re getting to the basket but not finishing, you’re saying: ‘How the hell am I going to make a shot?’ “
When he grows to be a man, Mudiay will be a beast that causes mismatches in the lane. But right here, right now, he’s a teenager discovering it’s no longer possible to bully his way to the basket, leave his feet and figure it out in midair while gravity tugs at his toes and a defender waits to block his shot or steal his pass.
“My strong suit has always been getting to the basket,” said Mudiay. “I’ve got to learn when and when not to go. You’ve got to know how to finish around the basket and how to use the rim to your advantage.”
One more thing, and just because it’s the truth won’t make the reality easier to swallow: At age 19, Carmelo Anthony was a significantly better player than Mudiay is now. When joining the Nuggets in 2003, Melo was no older than Mudiay is today.
But Anthony came to the pros with a refined scoring touch and a championship pedigree from Syracuse. With veterans Andre Miller and Marcus Camby on the roster to support him, Anthony helped the Nuggets improve by 27 victories in a single season and led the team to the playoffs.
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Mudiay might be better than Melo one of these years. But it would be crazy to count on miracles this season. This year is all about the education of Mudiay.
“If we’re getting our butts kicked, I’m not going to just sit there and say: ‘Well, this is good for Emmanuel’s development,’ ” stressed Malone, who respects the money spent by fans too much to treat games that count in the standings as nothing more than a lab experiment for Mudiay.
“But, overall, I want to be able to say at the end of Year 1 that we gave Emmanuel every chance to succeed and learn going into Year 2, because that’s only going to accelerate the growth of this roster and this organization.”
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or @markkiszla
