There was a lot to take away and unpack from the first game of the David Adelman era, a 124-116 win for the Nuggets in Sacramento. Adelman’s father, Rick was an NBA coaching legend, including in Sacramento where he is one of the best and most beloved coaches in Kings franchise history.
After the Nuggets ripped off the band-aid and fired Michael Malone and Calvin Booth on Tuesday out of nowhere, David Adelman took over the top job and is tasked with salvaging the final days of the team’s regular season and any ensuing play-in and/or playoff run.
Adelman had an impressive introductory press conference and by all accounts, the vibes and energy in the building have immediately improved. It showed on the court; the team looked like they were playing harder, had better body language, and executed as crisply as they have on both ends in a long time.
But beyond any changes in lineups, rotations, and the way the team played, one notable change that caught some eyes was a little quirk pertaining to how Adelman drew up plays in timeout huddles.
Adelman following in father’s footsteps by drawing plays on paper
Many onlookers quickly realized that during timeouts and stoppages in play, when Adelman brought the team together to huddle on the bench, there was no whiteboard in sight. Instead, he had a pad of paper and was using that to draw up plays for his team.
David Adelman is using a pad of paper with a court printed on each sheet as opposed to a whiteboard to draw up plays during timeouts.
— Katy Winge (@katywinge) April 10, 2025
He can rip off the paper & save the plays to remember what worked & what didn’t.
Old school approach, I believe something his father used too.
In part, this was an homage to Adelman’s father Rick, who used the same tactic in his coaching days. After the game, Peyton Watson brought it up in his press conference and explained the and DeAndre Jordan were the first ones to notice that Adelman was using pen and paper instead of a whiteboard and he asked the coach about the unusual tactic.
Watson explained that by using pen and paper, Adelman is able to mark the time and situation for each play and can rip off the paper and save them for later use. He can go back, see what worked, what didn’t, what the situation was, and use that information to make informed decisions going forward.
PWAT and DJ were the ones to ask David Adelman why he was using paper instead of the whiteboard and i just love everything about this tbh pic.twitter.com/wzek5MZvqp
— Tatiana (@Tatianaclinares) April 10, 2025
It’s cool to see Adelman taking a page out of his legendary father’s book (pun extremely intended). But on top of that, it also seems like a very sound strategy and shows next level thinking and strategy. The NBA is as competitive as it gets and any advantage on the margins can make a big difference. Going the extra mile for a competitive edge is exactly what Nuggets fans should love and want to see from their new, first-time head coach.