Nuggets’ Michael Malone’s coaching traits born during days as ‘stubborn’ point guard

DENVER — Bob Farrell won 777 games during his 34 seasons as the head coach of the boys basketball program at Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey. “When you’re coaching, once the game starts, you don’t have time to be nervous,” Farrell, 76, told The Athletic by phone Saturday from his home in New Jersey, where he still works as a physical education teacher at Seton Hall Prep after stepping down as its coach in 2011. I said, ‘I’ll watch it in the morning.’ It’s a whole different experience for me.” When Farrell woke up on Saturday morning, he was relieved to discover the Nuggets and head coach Michael Malone, the point guard “with a stubborn streak” Farrell first coached back in 1987, were one victory away from the franchise’s first NBA championship. “I still get texts from guys all the time who played on that team, saying, ‘Look what he’s doing,'” said Kampe, who is now the longest active tenured of any NCAA men’s basketball coach. “He understood that part of it, even as a young assistant.” It’s those bonds that makes Farrell so hopeful he’ll be able to watch Malone celebrate with Jokić, Jamal Murray and the rest of his players and assistant coaches as confetti falls around them.