Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone says he's not taking Nikola Jokic's “greatness” for granted ahead of the new season

CNN
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The opportunity to win an NBA title doesn't come along often.

It can take years, sometimes even decades, for all the stars to come together so that a franchise can build a competitive roster. Even if that's the case, an injury mishap can instantly derail a team's title dreams.

For the Denver Nuggets, the selection of a little-known Serbian named Nikola Jokić with the 41st pick of the 2014 NBA Draft – famously during a fast food commercial – catapulted the franchise into championship contention.

Some ten years later, Jokić is arguably the best player in the world and will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the greatest NBA players of all time upon his retirement.

Jokić, a three-time MVP, led the Nuggets to their first title in franchise history in 2023, but the defending champions were eliminated in the semifinals last season by the rising Minnesota Timberwolves.

“The Joker” turns 30 in February, and with each passing season, the window of opportunity to add more NBA titles to his resume gets smaller. That's why Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said he will “never” take Jokić's “greatness” for granted as the pair tries to recapture their NBA title.

“I grew up in this business,” Malone told CNN's Bijan Hosseini in Abu Dhabi before the Nuggets' opening preseason loss to the Boston Celtics, the reigning NBA champions. “My father was a coach and when you're around greats like that you don't come across them very often.

“I've been fortunate to be around great players like Nikola, Steph Curry and LeBron James in my NBA career. Now a guy like (newcomer) Russell Westbrook is a future Hall of Famer, and you appreciate their size, their durability.

“But one thing I can tell everyone about Nikola is that he is an even better person. He has never changed. The MVPs, the championship, he's still the same guy. I love his humility and I love how he comes to work every day to try to get better.”

And they also have to get significantly better.

The Boston Celtics were easily the best regular-season team last time out before making a dominant run in the playoffs and securing the franchise's first title since 2008.

To revamp their roster, the Nuggets added veterans Westbrook and Dario Sarić. Malone says his players' energy in training and pre-season has been “outstanding”, adding: “That's what we've talked about… Don't take this window for granted, embrace it and let's see what happens.”

But there's also the small matter of navigating the notoriously difficult Western Conference, which looks particularly talented this season. Malone says it's the hardest thing he's ever seen.

“Of course, every year is a new journey, a new opportunity,” he said. “They won their biggest win, the franchise’s first championship in 47 years. Disappointing loss last year. This now motivates you to come back even better.

“The parity and the depth in the Western Conference…you can assume six teams in the West could win the championship and you wouldn't be surprised. It's loaded. Every team has two or three really talented players.

“The coaches are all doing a great job, so everyone thinks it will be easy to just get back to the Championship, where you have to put yourself in a position to get through a grueling 82-game season – and the West is full.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said this season will feature “incredible competition.”

Silver told CNN: “We’ve had six different champions in the last six years. My colleague Joe Dumars – who was a champion as a player and a champion as a general manager in this league and has a long league horizon – said he couldn't remember a time when so many teams felt to have a chance to be the champion.”

The Celtics spent a lot of money this year, signing all key players to contract extensions to extend their title window.

Among them is Jrue Holiday, whose masterful defensive skills helped lead the Celtics to a title in his first season in Boston.

But Holiday isn't satisfied with last season's triumph, saying the team is “always” hungry for more and the “plan” is to keep going in a row.

“I think that’s always the goal,” the 34-year-old told CNN in Abu Dhabi. “We did a pretty good job last year, have about the same team, but I think the goal is to hold on and do it again.

“I think winning is the goal every year, always the option I will play.”