Michael Malone may not be quite as surly as Greg Popovich or Tom Thibodeau, but he’s not far behind them for the biggest curmudgeon of any NBA coach. Malone grew up on the game and has an old-school, no-nonsense style and demeanor.
He has never been afraid to speak his mind, criticize, and call people out when he sees fit. If anything, Nuggets fans probably wish he would have more of a filter at times as he can often get himself and the team into trouble with his blunt assessments to the media.
So, it should come as no surprise that Malone didn’t hold back on Wednesday during his pregame press conference when he was asked about NBA commissioner, Adam Silver’s comments from a radio show earlier in the day.
In an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Silver was speaking about ways to improve the league’s ratings and mentioned that he’s “a fan” of 10-minute quarters used in international basketball. This idea would hypothetically shorten NBA games from 48 to 40 minutes, knocking each quarter down from 12 to 10.
Malone mocks Silver’s idea, compares it to a circus
Malone was eager to share his opinion on the new idea from Silver, stating clearly that he hopes the league doesn’t go to 10-minute quarters, then adding, “I hope we don’t go to the four-point line. I hope we don’t become Barnum & Bailey where we’re just having to do whatever we have to do to keep viewership.”
It’s pretty clear that Malone is sick of hearing about ratings and viewership. He loves the purity and the history of the game and has no interest in catering to viewers with shorter attention spans.
Silver’s proposed changes would be awful for the NBA
I love hearing Malone speak his mind and I agree with him wholeheartedly on this one. The NBA product is incredible right now and basketball fans get to watch some incredible action almost every single night. True basketball lovers can see that, and the idea of overreacting to recent trends with radical changes is just silly.
Turning the games into a circus, as Malone suggested would be a horrible decision and hopefully one that Silver isn’t seriously considering. The games aren’t perfect and there are plenty of little tweaks that could improve the viewing experience a great deal.
But they don’t have to be major changes to the rulebook or the way the game is played. Silver speaks like a politician and hopefully he is just being respectful about every idea that comes across his desk, but if he’s seriously considering some of these changes, maybe it’s time for a new commissioner.