Grading The Week: Three cheers for Nuggets’ Michael Malone, NBA champ who put family first

Michael Malone gets it.

Basketball. Leadership. Perspective. Society. Family. All of it.

The occasionally deep thinkers on the Grading The Week crew don’t mind coaches who refuse to stick to sports.

Truth be told? We kind of dig them.

Malone, the Nuggets’ head whistle since 2015, sits proudly in that camp. He’s never been shy about offering an opinion on the news of the day, even if it’s from a worldview that doesn’t always mesh with 100% of his audience. It’s a free country.

But one thing everyone can probably agree on is the importance of being there for your kids’ most important moments. When you can.

So Team GTW doffs its collective caps to Malone for missing Friday night’s NBA Cup tilt in New Orleans between the depleted Pelicans and his Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets.

And another tip of the cap to the Nuggets for letting him.

Malone being there as a dad — A
Because instead of traveling to Louisiana on Friday, Malone watched his daughter Bridget and her Mountain Vista squad compete in the state high school volleyball tournament.

That’s cool, dad.

You know why? Never mind the usual basketball stakes. Malone went into Friday a victory away from tying Denver legend Doug Moe as the franchise’s all-time wins leader for a coach.

That could wait.

The state volleyball tourney couldn’t.

A parenting moment couldn’t.

Malone has iconic status in a dream coaching job. But how many times has that dream coaching job taken him away from major family events over the years?

Again, the guy gets it.

The Nuggets lost, by the way, 101-94. And with no Jokic, New Orleans outrebounded Denver 58-45.

Meanwhile, Mountain Vista knocked off Pine Creek in the second round on Thursday, 3-2, but fell to Valor Christian on Friday, 3-1. That set up an elimination bracket matchup with Legend on Saturday.

But if being there is half the battle, Malone won that half running away.

Nuggets City Edition unis — C-
Yeah, let’s just say we’re still not fans.

Val Nichushkin’s contrition — A
The mercurial forward and key to the Avs’ playoff fates returned to the fold on Friday after a six-month suspension.

“I think I have made huge progress with my mental health,” Valeri Nichushkin told reporters after his season debut against Washington, “and hope that it never happens again.”

Same, Val. Same. For everybody’s sake.

MSU Denver volleyball — A
Speaking of volleyball, a nod to the Roadrunners of MSU Denver, whose squad went into Saturday afternoon’s clash at Fort Lewis having won 17 of their last 18 and ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II South Central regional rankings. MSU Denver improved its overall record to 23-2 and its mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to 13-0 after a 3-0 win at Gunnison on Friday.

The Fort Lewis showdown caps the Roadrunners’ regular season. The RMAC tournament begins Tuesday, while the first round of NCAA regionals is slated for Dec. 5.