As Nuggets coach Michael Malone watched TV and saw the racial unrest unfurl across the country Monday night, he felt compelled, as a face of the franchise, to say something.
While the George Floyd protests roiled on, including a fifth night in Denver, Malone said he felt a wave of emotion and a need to speak. Given the ongoing pandemic, Tuesday’s passing of Wes Unseld, father of his assistant, Wes Unseld Jr., and the imminent return of the NBA, Malone called it therapeutic to talk. He also deemed it mandatory.
“If I don’t speak up, I would be doing my players, the Nuggets and our city a disservice,” Malone told The Denver Post by phone on Tuesday afternoon.