NBA
Nuggets coach Michael Malone rants at reporter after defeat to Timberwolves: what did he say?
Denver suffered a historic NBA Playoffs collapse to Minnesota in the Western Conference semi-finals, leaving Malone deeply unhappy.
The Denver Nuggets crashed out of the 2024 NBA Playoffs in spectacular fashion on Sunday, losing Game 7 to the Minnesota Timberwolves when it looked as if they were in pole position to progress to the Western Conference Final. An outcome which left head coach Michael Malone deeply disappointed.
Nuggets suffer historic Game 7 collapse against Timberwolves
The Nuggets were as many as 20 points ahead at one stage in the third quarter, with Jamal Murray 24 first-half points giving them a 15-point cushion at half-time. However, they suffered a dramatic collapse, the biggest in Game 7 history, to lose the second half 60-37, with six Timberwolves players getting into double figures.
Minnesota will now face the Dallas Mavericks for the Western championship, with the winner playing either the Indiana Pacers or the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
As is customary, the coaches of both teams spoke to the media in the aftermath of the defeat, with Malone clearly - and understandably - struggling to come to terms with how his team had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Michael Malone’s expletive-ridden rant after Denver loss to Minnesota
The 52-year-old was asked to try to put how he was feeling into words and was unable to hide his frustration.
“Next question, man. The season’s over. That’s what’s hard. F*ck being up 20. The season’s over. You don’t understand that. The season’s over, it’s hard,” was Malone’s initial response.
However, he took his fury at Denver’s collapse out on the reporter who had asked the question, muttering “stupid a*s questions” into his microphone.
Malone did, however, also say his players were “gassed,” and that they “gave me everything I could ever ask for,” claiming he would bow out of the playoffs “with my head held very high”.
After failing to reach the playoffs in any of his first five seasons as a head coach, including his first three with the Nuggets, Malone has qualified his team for the postseason in each of the last six years.
After two second-round defeats (2019, 2021) and a Conference finals loss (2020), Malone, Murray and Nikola Jokic led Denver to the NBA Championship for the first time in the franchise’s history in 2023.