Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone lost his temper during his team’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night, and he took it out on an opponent and one of his own players.
First, Malone had some words for Blake Griffin, who was not happy that the Nuggets were employing a hack-a-DeAndre Jordan strategy at the end of the game.
Jordan is a poor free throw shooter, and he made just 12 of 25 in the game. He missed several free throws late in the fourth quarter, but perhaps Griffin felt that the Nuggets were dragging out the game with L.A. leading 110-93 and just under two minutes remaining.
Malone said after the game that he owes the Clippers an apology.
“As a head coach, as a leader of this team, I can’t get caught up in that kind of stuff,” he said, via Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “I owed them an apology. Have to set a better example for our team, and we just have to keep on working. Stay together and keep on working, and find a way to stay positive. Hopefully a win will come soon.”
Just moments after that, Malone got into it with rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay on the bench.
Michael Malone and Emmanuel Mudiay in a heated exchange on #Nuggets bench. pic.twitter.com/UMjuwfmUWW
— Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN) November 25, 2015
That incident led to Mudiay issuing an apology of his own, saying that everyone is just frustrated with Denver’s current four-game losing streak.
“It’s just both of us being competitors. It probably was my fault, I could have been doing a lot more,” Mudiay said. “So I kind of put the blame on myself. I’ve got nothing against Coach, I respect him.”
Earlier this month, it was another team having a verbal altercation during a game against the Nuggets. Apparently the have been partially responsible for a lot of frustration this season.
