CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nuggets coach Michael Malone and Hornets coach Steve Clifford were colleagues when they worked as assistants under Jeff Van Gundy with the Knicks in the early 2000s.
By then, Malone had calmed down. When Clifford first met Malone, serving as the fifth-grader’s coach at the Pine Tree Basketball Camp in Waterville, Maine, Malone was much more, well, colorful.
“It was a camp that my father used to run with a couple other guys up there,” Malone said. “Cliff, who’s from Maine, was the only one willing to deal with, not only my B.S., but also my father’s, I guess.