Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was involved in a heated conversation with Minnesota Timberwolves fans on Friday night during Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Following the fourth quarter exchange, security escorted two fans out of the arena but Malone told reporters it wasn’t at his request.
“He didn’t like my haircut, and I told him that I like my haircut,” Malone said, via the Denver Post. “And we just kind of went from there.”
After the initial back-and-forth, frustrations continued to grow. The fans began to engage other members of the Nuggets staff as time ticked away during a 117-90 blowout loss for Minnesota.
“That happens at times in a hostile environment, and people get a little liquid courage I guess sometimes,” Malone said. “And they think they can just say whatever they want to anybody. And I’m not allowing that to happen.”
Malone noted that the unruly fans were not a reflection of the Timberwolves fanbase but rather, just a pair frustrated, inebriated folks.
“Listen man, these fans here are great,” Malone added. “I mean, that was an amazing atmosphere. You live for moments like that and opportunities like that, to go out there and perform when you’ve got 20,000 people screaming at you. But unfortunately there’s always gonna be people that want to get a little bit more involved in the game, and make it personal. And that’s unfortunate.”
The Nuggets and Timberwolves will resume their series on Sunday night at the Target Center and we’ll see if the fans have a little more in store for Malone.
