‘No regrets’: Ex-Kings coach Malone still wonders ‘what if,’ but he’s happy in Denver

Michael Malone will always wonder what might have happened in Sacramento if he hadn’t been fired midway through his second season as head coach of the Kings, but he no longer bothers to wonder why.

Malone has moved on. He now has another gifted young big man to work with and is thriving in his fourth season with the Denver Nuggets, who were leading the Western Conference going into Thursday night’s game against the Kings at Golden 1 Center.

Malone seemed completely at ease and very much at peace with the past as he moved through the hallway outside the visitor’s locker room before his team’s morning shoot-around. Before the conversation turned to his time in Sacramento, Malone preached the importance of defense while praising De’Aaron Fox, Willie Cauley-Stein and a young Kings team that ranks among the league leaders in scoring and pace.

“This team tonight is scary,” Malone said. “They play fast. They’re exciting to watch. They’ve got one of the faster guys in the NBA in Fox, they have a dynamic roller in Cauley-Stein and they have shooting everywhere, so it’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us. If we don’t talk (on defense) tonight, we’ll get our doors blown off.”

Malone worked as an assistant coach with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets and Golden State Warriors before the Kings hired him as their head coach in June 2013. The Kings went 28-54 in their first season under Malone but showed signs of significant improvement the following year, winning five of their first six in 2014-15.

At the offensive end, they funneled the ball to DeMarcus Cousins, who was emerging as one of the most ferocious young big men in the game. Defensively, they played hard, guarded their men with intensity and focus, trusted each other and trusted their coach, who is known as a defensive tactician.

“I think (Malone is) one of the better coaches in the league,” Cousins once told The Bee. “He’s a great man. I learned a lot from him.”

After losing their season opener to the Golden State Warriors, the Kings rolled to five consecutive victories. Rudy Gay scored 40 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Cousins had 34 points and 17 rebounds in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Malone made an emotional connection with Cousins, establishing a rapport that eluded Paul Westphal, Keith Smart, Tyrone Corbin and George Karl, coaches who came before and after him. Cousins averaged career highs of 23.5 points, 12.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks to help the Kings go 9-6 over the first 15 games before he contracted viral meningitis.

“Unfortunately, DeMarcus got sick and we struggled to win without our MVP, which most teams do,” Malone said.

Cousins missed 10 games. The Kings went 2-8 and Malone was fired four days before his young star returned to the lineup.

The Kings said Malone was fired due to philosophical differences and the organization’s desire to implement a more dynamic offense. The move frustrated a long-suffering fan base and provided fodder for a national narrative depicting the Kings as one of the most dysfunctional franchises in professional sports.

Malone didn’t understand the decision then and said the passing years have not provided more clarity.

“Don’t need clarity, (but) I will always wonder, ‘What if?’” Malone said.

In an April 2016 radio interview with Sports 1140 KHTK, Cousins was asked what would have happened if Malone hadn’t been fired.

“We would have been a playoff team,” Cousins said.

They never got that chance.

It’s been 12 years since the Kings’ last postseason appearance, but under coach Dave Joerger they now have that dynamic offense and a real opportunity to end the NBA’s longest postseason drought.

The Nuggets seem destined to make their first playoff appearance since 2013. They rank 26th in the NBA in pace and 18th in scoring, but they are among the league leaders in defense, rebounding and point differential.

At the offensive end, they funnel the ball to Nikola Jokic, who has emerged as one of the most multifaceted young big men in the game, averaging 18 points, 9.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists. Defensively, they play hard, guard with intensity and focus, trust each other and trust their coach.

“He is a really competitive coach,” Jokic said. “He wants to be the best he can be. He’s a basketball mind. He really just thinks about basketball. He gives us a little freedom to play on offense, but he really wants discipline on defense. He wants to be the best defensive team.”

Malone was asked if there were any similarities in devising systems to suit the talents of Jokic and Cousins, who was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2017.

“Well, Boogie and Jokic are two different people — I’ll start with that — and I love them both,” Malone said. “That’s the beauty of coaching. When you walk into a locker room, you have 15 ... different personalities and that’s the challenge of a coach, to find the way to push the right buttons and get through to that player.

“DeMarcus was a guy that we built around and we put an offense around, and I think we were definitely heading in the right direction. Now, in Denver, we have a young man in Nikola Jokic, who we have made an effort to say he is our future, he is our franchise player and we’re going to build around him.”

Malone believes he’s right where he belongs. This is why.

“I have no regrets,” he said. “I love the place I’m in, I love the people I work with and I’m thankful for the opportunity I was given here because that allowed me to show other people in the NBA that I was a worthy candidate to be a head coach for another team.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2019 at 4:41 PM.