Few people are enjoying the Denver Nuggets’ first ever NBA championship like the team’s head coach Michael Malone.
He’s drinking the champagne. He’s promising more trophies at the parade. He’s taking shots at LeBron James that are very clearly landing. And now, he’s getting some ink to celebrate the highlight of his career so far.
A photo surfaced on Twitter on Tuesday showing the 51-year-old coach sporting a new shoulder tattoo depicting the Nuggets’ mascot, Maxie the Miner, holding the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Similar tattoos have been done by fans since the Nuggets hoisted the trophy last week, but it’s another matter when the coach himself is doing it.
It’s not a surprise Malone is savoring his team’s breakthrough, and permanently commemorating with some prime real estate on his left arm. The man has been coaching since 1993 and worked his way from a high school assistant job all the way up to NBA head coach. He was fired by the Sacramento Kings (the Kings!) after two seasons in 2014 and landed with the Nuggets, where he built one of the best cultures in the NBA.
Since taking over in Denver, Malone has guided the Nuggets from the wilderness (not making the playoffs in his first three years) to knocking on the door (four years of trying and failing to advance past the Western Conference finals) to this. He’s had Nikola Jokić along for the entire ride, building up the former second-round big man into a two-time MVP and the reigning Finals MVP.
So you can probably understand how this title is personal enough for Malone to get a tattoo, not that an NBA coach should need a reason to get some ink after winning a championship. In fact, it would be lovely if this began a new tradition among the league’s coaching elite.