“We just got our bu–s kicked”. After the Nuggets lost 126-114 against the Cavs, Michael Malone expressed more eloquently. After all, Denver keeps rotating between wins and losses in the ongoing season, unable to create a long-lasting win streak! What made the situation even worse was that the loss overshadowed Nikola Jokic’s memorable triple-double. This happened recently too, as the Serb’s career-high 56 points was not enough to secure a win against the Wizards! A team that held a 2-18 win record!

In light of this, Coach Malone did not choose to mince his words.

During the post-game presser, he made his critique against his own Denver players known. “If you try to wait to start playing hard in this league, what happened tonight is exactly what’s going to happen to you.”

“We’ve seen this time and time again, in these last 10 years, that even happened to this team before. So, if you ask what’s the difference between holding them to 52% in the 1st, compared to 44 in the 2nd, maybe asking guys to be a little bit more desperate and urgent struck a nerve, I guess,” Malone concluded. Losing an NBA matchup is demotivating enough, but losing to the 2024-25 Washington Wizards? Malone was even led to believe that a lapse from his end brought about this situation.

“I’m doing a really poor job with this team, for us to be 11 and 10 at this point, and losing to a team that last 5 games is averaging 100 points a game. They put up 122 on us, and I’m embarrassed by that,” the Nuggets head coach continued.

The Nuggets-Wizards matchup saw a breakthrough performance from Jordan Poole. After making only 11 and 13 points in the last 2 games, he dropped 39. He combined it with 5 rebounds and 8 assists. The Wizards were able to take advantage of the Nuggets having Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Dario Saric out…

Nikola Jokic did his part on the offensive front by attempting 38 shots from the field. However, no other player took their score even beyond 15 points, except Julian Strawther. The Nuggets recorded 15 turnovers, often causing lapses on the defensive front.

Once Jokic took a rest after making his career-high, the Wizards then pushed the lead back into double digits. Therefore, for Michael Malone, if there was an appropriate time to blast his roster, then it was now.

“I mean, we have film sessions, where you watch the film, and you hold guys accountable, and you address the issues. It just kind of… just being repeated over and over and over again,” said Malone. “So, that’s where I take the blame for us… Obviously, I’ve done a poor job as a HC in preparing this team, not only to win but to go out there and execute. And, I have no problem owning that”.

Michael Malone made his remarks around the time Nikola Jokic expressed his disappointment. Feeling that the win-loss dance may not be enough to motivate his teammates, the Serb did not propose the stick. Instead, he proposed reducing the volume of the carrot…

Amidst Michael Malone taking the blame, Nikola Jokic proposes reducing teammates’ pay: “A little motivation that way”

Jokic decided to take inspiration from his home country of Serbia when making this proposal. Upon being asked about the thing that his squad needs to see in the upcoming games, he stated, “A reaction. In my country, where I’m coming from, after this kind of stretch you’re gonna get a paycheck that is a little bit less than you are worth. So maybe that’s what we need to do. Maybe a little motivation that way.” Yikes!

Further, Jokic made the statement while he was visibly laughing too, meaning that we should probably not consider this proposal seriously. Later on, he added, “What’s the name of it? Being benched? Being on the bench, I think that’s really good motivation too.”

Whatever steps the Denver Nuggets take, they need to act quickly. Currently listed as the 9th seed on the points chart, the opportunity to rise higher is slipping away with each game. What do you think should be done?