Mike Malone on Isaiah Thomas

[BudweiserCeltic]

Also supporting Thomas' candidacy was Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone, who coached Thomas years ago on the Sacramento Kings.

"Great memories," Malone said about the player-coach bond. "Isaiah and I remain close. Love him as a person and as a player. A guy I did not want to lose while I was in (Sacramento), in our second season. He's got a chip on his shoulder. Last pick in the draft, he has that keep on doubting me attitude. He loves being in the gym, he's a guy you love being around, and that's why I think he's worthy of an All-Star reserve spot this year, which I hope he gets. He's worked very hard, you look at his numbers and he's a guy who deserves to be on that team."

Even before Malone's glowing comments, Stevens said he knows Thomas "thinks very highly of" his former coach. That shouldn't change after all Malone's praise. He gave a nod to Thomas' playmaking when asked what the guard has improved since leaving the Kings.

"He's a scorer," Malone said. "What happens a lot of times is people try to change players. Isaiah has been a scorer his whole life – high school, college, I had him at Sac. I didn't want him to become John Stockton. He's never going to be John Stockton. Take him for who he is. But within that I told him you have to be a guy who can run his team, make the right decision with the ball. When you've done your job of drawing two defenders, then make the right play.

"He's just under seven assists right now, he has a 3-1 (assist-to-turnover) ratio. His playmaking ability and the ability to value the basketball, then on the other end just being solid defensively. But he's always been a guy who can score. He can score in his sleep. But it was the other things that he needed to improve upon and he's done that. He's made a concerted effort to do so."

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