With David Adelman, Talking “the Joker and Jamal” and the Nuggets’ amazing ride to the Western Conference finals
The Adelman Family: son L.J., wife Jenny, David, daughter Lennan
David Adelman was up past midnight Thursday in his hotel room on the Disney campus in Orlando. For the better part of an hour, the Denver Nuggets assistant coach was Facetiming with wife Jenny and their two children, son L.J., 6, and daughter Lennan, 5, who were all back home in Denver. And there was some conversation with Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
Finally, there was time for an interview with a hometown scribe who has known David since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, running around the Trail Blazers’ locker room in the early ‘90s as the young son of Coach Rick Adelman.
David is now a part of history. With their thrilling 104-89 Game 7 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night — outscoring the Clips 50-31 in the second half — the Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to win successive series after trailing 3-1. Denver has faced six elimination games and won them all. Against the LA contingent, the Nuggets overcame deficits of 16 points in Game 5, 19 points in Game 6, and 13 points in Game 7.
“Surreal,” Adelman said Thursday night, on the eve of the Nuggets’ Friday night opener against the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. “To find a way to win all of those elimination games — pretty amazing. But also, it’s not something I wouldn’t see happening with our group. The guys stayed with it day by day.
“It’s been an incredible run so far. I’ve never been around a group that’s been so locked in.”
You may have seen video of the scene in the Nuggets’ locker room after Tuesday’s Game 7. There was some celebrating going on.
“It was euphoria,” says Adelman, 38. “I don’t want to say we thought we were going to win, but … well, the group has such a trust in one another. We expected something positive to happen.
“The weirdness of the Bubble and being able to hang out together after the game added to make it fun. Nobody was going back to their homes or hotel rooms afterward. We kept together and celebrated, and we should have. It was an incredible feat, to do that in two playoff series against teams with great coaches. It was a testament to our guys.”
Adelman is in his ninth season as an NBA assistant, his third as the No. 2 assistant under Malone with the Nuggets. The former Jesuit High point guard worked for five years in Minnesota — the first two under his father— and one in Orlando before landing in Denver in 2017.
David got started as the head coach at Portland’s Lincoln High at age 24. In his five years there, the Cardinals won three PIL titles and reached the 6A championship game in 2009. Now he is the “offensive coordinator” for Malone, almost always sitting to the left of the head coach on the Nuggets’ bench during games.
“I’ve been lucky,” Adelman says. “All the coaches I’ve worked for in the NBA — Coach (Flip) Saunders, Coach (Sam) Mitchell, Coach (Frank) Vogel, my dad — have given me the opportunity to speak in front of the team, to have an impact. They’ve trusted me.
“Coach Malone has done an amazing job for us this year — especially in those elimination games — of being loose and positive. That goes a long way. He’s been a great leader. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of it and learn from him.”
Adelman has a front-row seat of the show being put on by Denver’s Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. In Denver, they’re calling “Joker and Jamal” the greatest sports duo in the city since John Elway and Terrell Davis.
On Tuesday, Murray went for 40 points and Jokic collected 16 points, 22 rebounds, and 13 assists to lift the Nuggets to the West finals for the fourth time in franchise history and the first time since 2009.
“They were great last year, too,” Adelman says. “We lost (in seven games in the West semifinals) to a really good team in Portland. But those guys just got better this year. They have such great cohesiveness.
“(Karl) Malone and (John) Stockton were together for 20 years, but it seems like the start of that kind of thing. They have such a good feel for each other. It’s nice knowing that if we’re even in the game down the stretch, those two guys can get it done.”
Adelman says the entire group representing the Nuggets in Orlando is tight.
“We have a good thing going,” he says. “We have two extremely good players, but we have a lot of people who make the situation less stressful — role players who do their job, coaching staff, and support staff.
“When you’re down in the Bubble together for 70-some days, away from your loved ones, you better have that. You better be OK being around each other. This is our family down here. You’re seeing it with Miami down here, too. That’s been a major positive for us. We pick each other up and keep going.”
Restrictions on bringing family members into the Bubble are tighter with coaches than players. Because of the strict quarantine rules, David’s family remained home in Denver.
“I missed my daughter’s fifth birthday,” he says. “It’s emotional. It’s really hard. You wake up and you work and you sit around. You work out, try to find time to take care of yourself.
“But I think about this all the time while I’m here: I’m lucky. I have a job. I’m getting paid. I’m doing what I have to do to fill my job responsibilities. A lot of Americans don’t have a job, and so many things are going on with the virus and social justice issues and the forest fires. So I’m not crying, but it sucks to be away from your family for so long.”
Adelman is glad to be taking part in an endeavor that has been welcomed by an American public thirsting for sporting entertainment on television.
“I’ve had so many people reach out who I haven’t communicated with for a long time,” he says. “They’re so glad NBA basketball is back. They needed a release. It’s a major positive.”
Playing games in Orlando with virtually no fans has been “really weird,” but an interesting study, too.
“The NBA has done a great job with the production and the sound during games,” Adelman says. “It’s different with each team. Ours is really good. Utah’s sound was loud. The Clippers had an amazing pregame production. Each team has put a certain amount of time and effort into what it wants presented during the game. For Game 7 (against the Clippers), their sound was really loud when we had the ball and very quiet when they had it. When you’re in the game, though, you don’t notice it. You’re just playing. It feels intense and it feels real.
“The coolest thing about it has been, there are no distractions. It’s just five-on-five basketball. It’s like the best AAU tournament of all time. It’s the best players playing against each other in a quiet, very small arena. I’ve found it kind of refreshing.”
The competition has been fierce, fans, no fans or few fans.
“Watch the way Miami is playing, and how we’re playing,” Adelman says. “Who cares what’s in the gym? It’s been really cool to see how hard guys play in this situation. It’s also a great reality check for people who don’t understand how hard the league is.
“Our guys play hard. I don’t care how much money they make and who they are. Guys love to play basketball. They want to win. This is showing that.”
The Lakers open as heavy favorites to win the series against Denver — a 1-4 pick. The Nuggets are a 5-1 underdog.
“They have the best player alive (LeBron James) and a lot of locked-in, veteran players,” Adelman says. “They’re playing as well as a group as anybody in the playoffs.
“But we have a shot the way we play. We have a selfless team. To beat the Lakers, you have to play at an extremely high level. I think our guys are excited about the challenge. They understand it’s a hard task. The good thing for us, we’ve gone through two really tough series. The guys have a healthy respect for the Lakers, but they believe in themselves, too.”
On Wednesday, David spoke via telephone to his father, who has been closely watching the Nuggets all season.
“He told me this is the most fun basketball he has watched for a long time,” David says. “Jokic and Murray are easy to like. They play the right way and care about their teammates. It’s been cool to talk to him at night and get his take on our team. It reminds him of those great Portland teams he coached in the ‘90s.”
During the 2019 NBA Playoffs, David joined me to record a podcast. You can listen to it here.
Watch Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on TNT at 6:00 PM on Friday September 18, 2020. You can find the schedule of the rest of the 2020 NBA playoff games here.
Readers: what are your thoughts on the Western Conference Finals? Do you think it will be the Nuggets or the Lakers in the NBA Finals? Share your comments below.
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