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Latest Miami Heat Buzz

Kevin O'Connor

Kevin O'Connor

2/26/2026, 12:12:46 AM
Calvin Booth credited Michael Malone with developing Peyton Watson and Christian Braun. He said the championship required alignment between them. He said Malone deserves another head coaching job. But he was also honest about the bind he was in. Former NBA GM and coach Flip Saunders, Booth said, used to talk about the difference between idealistic and realistic. Front offices are idealistic. Coaches are dealing with reality every day: the pressure, the decisions, the knowledge that a losing streak could end their career. Booth admitted he was probably too idealistic in expecting a coach under that kind of pressure to execute a long-term development plan, especially for a first-time GM without a track record.

“I have to take accountability whatever way that narrative grew legs and my part in it, I've learned from that,” Booth said. “There's such a weird paradox with NBA coaches. They're in the midst of the lion's den. They're dealing with players, some of the most formidable size-wise and ego-wise in the world, and they're managing them. Those guys buy in. And then these coaches have to report to a general manager who maybe doesn't have the gravitas they do. I just think it's a human nature thing.”

Even with that awareness, Booth doesn't think the outcome was a reflection of how he handled it. He thinks he managed it better than most would have.

"You could put 100 GMs in my position," he said. "I don't know what, three or four of them do as good as I did."

My full conversation with Calvin Booth goes deeper into his time with the Nuggets, Jokic, his basketball philosophy, the upcoming draft, and many more subjects. Check it out on the latest episode of The Kevin O’Connor Show.

Calvin Booth credited Michael Malone with developing Peyton Watson and Christian Braun. He said the championship required alignment between them. He said Malone deserves another head coaching job. But he was also honest about the bind he was in. Former NBA GM and coach Flip Saunders, Booth said, used to talk about the difference between idealistic and realistic. Front offices are idealistic. Coaches are dealing with reality every day: the pressure, the decisions, the knowledge that a losing streak could end their career. Booth admitted he was probably too idealistic in expecting a coach under that kind of pressure to execute a long-term development plan, especially for a first-time GM without a track record. “I have to take accountability whatever way that narrative grew legs and my part in it, I've learned from that,” Booth said. “There's such a weird paradox with NBA coaches. They're in the midst of the lion's den. They're dealing with players, some of the most formidable size-wise and ego-wise in the world, and they're managing them. Those guys buy in. And then these coaches have to report to a general manager who maybe doesn't have the gravitas they do. I just think it's a human nature thing.” Even with that awareness, Booth doesn't think the outcome was a reflection of how he handled it. He thinks he managed it better than most would have. "You could put 100 GMs in my position," he said. "I don't know what, three or four of them do as good as I did." My full conversation with Calvin Booth goes deeper into his time with the Nuggets, Jokic, his basketball philosophy, the upcoming draft, and many more subjects. Check it out on the latest episode of The Kevin O’Connor Show.

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