As the bus carrying the melancholy Denver Nuggets rolled down Highway 101 toward San Francisco International Airport on that Tuesday morning in April, Jamal Murray sat in a seat with his left leg propped up, wiping tears from his eyes.
Across the aisle was his head coach, Michael Malone, and an impromptu therapy session began.
The night before, Murray's left knee had buckled after he'd planted on a drive toward the basket. Malone was at his side on the ground within seconds, waving for help from the medical staff. Later, inside the locker room at Chase Center, Malone was there when the Golden State Warriors team doctors informed him of their diagnosis: torn ACL.
"Jamal was grasping the enormity of the situation and was asking himself all those questions. Will he recover? Will he ever be the same?" Malone says. "What I've learned in my years in basketball and what I've tried to bring to our team for the last six years is that when you face adversity, you cannot run."
Malone has become known for a few things during what is now a two-decade-long NBA career. One is for his intensity, whether it is dealing with officials, opponents or even his own team when it's time to demand accountability. Google "Michael Malone rant" and there are plenty of results from meltdowns about his players' defense to the NBA's rules on letting families into the bubble last year to the LeBron James-Michael Jordan debate.
Though he has a good sense of humor and a New Yorker's sensibility and sarcasm, when Malone is upset, he sets his jaw and digs in emotionally and with his work ethic. When things aren't going right, he has been known to barricade himself in his hotel room or office and plow through the process to figure it out.
Malone's tenure in Denver has been marked by his ability to do just that. Like what he did on the bus that day in San Francisco. And what he did at the first team meeting after Murray's injury was confirmed by an MRI: leading his team through turmoil, something the now veteran coach is making a trademark.
"I came into the meeting with Jamal's stats and I read them off. All the points, assists, 3-pointers. I wanted everyone to know exactly what we were going to be missing," Malone says. "That 24 hours was very emotional for all of us. But I needed to let the guys know that none of them were expected to be Jamal. They didn't have to play outside themselves. But what they had to do was be positive. To have good body language. To believe in themselves and their teammates. That is what good teams do."
The Nuggets went 13-5 after Murray's injury, catapulting them to No. 3 in the Western Conference playoff race and likely solidifying Nikola Jokic, who continued his spectacular play despite losing his ideal pick-and-roll partner, as the league's front-runner for Most Valuable Player.
It was the same type of resilience the Nuggets displayed last year in Orlando, Florida, where they twice came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win and reach the West finals.
"This team's resiliency is a direct reflection of Mo," Nuggets team president Tim Connelly says, calling Malone by his nickname. "We've haven't had many losing streaks in the last six years. We've responded well to tough times. A lot of credit goes to him."
Malone is at it again, trying to chart a path for the Nuggets to get through their opening-round series with the Portland Trail Blazers. The injuries in the backcourt -- in addition to Murray, the Nuggets were down Monte Morris (who has since returned), Will Barton and PJ Dozier -- have left him starting 30-year-old rookie Facundo Campazzo and Austin Rivers, who just a few weeks ago was signed by the team on a 10-day contract.
"Stay positive," Malone says, almost as an instruction to himself. "We are consistent with that. We do that every day no matter who is out there."
Malone is quick to credit his players, especially Jokic, for the team's ability to follow that mantra over the past two seasons. But while Malone hasn't gotten the attention as other successful coaches have -- the Nuggets have a .625 winning percentage over the past four seasons and are trying to advance in the playoffs for the third consecutive season -- his team has developed a reputation that he has spearheaded.
His career has been highlighted by working with superstars early in their careers. Malone was with LeBron James in Cleveland for five years as an assistant and was part of the effort that transformed James into a willing defensive player. He was the lead assistant in Golden State when Stephen Curry took the leap between 2011 and 2013, overcoming ankle injuries to morph into one of the league's greatest offensive weapons of all time.
And he has been with Jokic since day one, overseeing his development into what will likely be the third MVP whom Malone has impacted.
"When Nikola was at his first summer league with us, there wasn't one person in our group who thought he'd be an NBA starter," Malone says. "But with LeBron and Steph, you see they have great basketball IQ and they have a great work ethic. Their IQ is off the charts. That's what you also see with Nikola."
Malone acutely remembers flying home from Dallas after getting blown out in early in the 2016-17 season and talking himself into building the team around Jokic, whom he had been trying to shoehorn into the lineup next to fellow big man Jusuf Nurkic. Within weeks, Nurkic was traded and the team's turnaround began.
Four years later, the turnaround looked to be nearing its apex. After a March trade for Aaron Gordon gave Malone defensive versatility he hadn't had in the past and unlocked a leap for Michael Porter Jr. on offense, the Nuggets promptly went on an eight-game winning streak, looking every bit like bona fide title contenders.
But the Murray injury lowered their ceiling and possibly set that dream back -- and not just this season, as Murray is likely to miss much of next year. And with just one year left on Gordon's contract, it's unclear when or even if the Nuggets will ever get to see what that collection of players could become.
"No excuses -- that's what we believe," Malone says. "And that's why I'm so proud of this team."