Andrew Bogut offered Michael Malone a congratulatory post after the Denver Nuggets coach earned his first-ever NBA title. The two spent a season together as their Golden State Warriors stint coincided. Bogut suited up for the Warriors from 2012 to 2016, while Malone served as an assistant coach for the organization from 2011 to 2013. However, the retired big man's tweet had a striking revelation, as he stated that Malone ran the Warriors' defense and drew plays for the team during timeouts, presumably in the 2012-13 campaign.
After a netizen replied wondering why Mark Jackson, the Dubs' head coach at the time, never mentioned that during the Finals broadcast, Bogut said that he would reveal some details about it on his podcast sometime in the future.
Before Malone landed a head coaching gig with the Sacramento Kings in the 2013 offseason, he made waves as an assistant coach for over a decade. In 2012, he had become widely regarded as one of the best in the Association.
However, there had been rumors of disagreements and a rift between the two, with some reports stating that there were a couple of weeks when the friends wouldn't talk with each other. Of course, those are just the word on the street.
In public, Malone and Jackson have had nothing but pleasant opinions or declarations about each other. After leaving the franchise, the championship-winning coach even dispelled the rumors, saying, "Mark Jackson and I still have a relationship. We still speak. We never went weeks without speaking to each other."
It's still worth noting, though, that Jackson could have shared some stories of his experiences with his former assistant coach while covering the NBA Finals for ESPN. However, that didn't seem to happen, which has resulted in some theories of hostility between them.
Of course, Bogut may not have been hinting about the discord between the two coaches but about Jackson's rocky tenure on Golden State's sidelines.
The ESPN analyst undoubtedly deserves credit for turning around a struggling franchise, helping lead the Dubs to consecutive postseason appearances in 2013 and 2014. The last time the team performed the feat was in 1992.
But some detractors have also argued that Jackson was a worse coach than his win-loss record suggests. While the Warriors had plenty of offensive talent on the roster, he apparently couldn't maximize those assets, which is partly why the squad lost in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. Some folks around the league even credit Malone for some of Jackson's offensive plays.
Until Bogut reveals his side of the story, people can only speculate about what he meant with his recent tweet.