There\u2019s a bar near the front that gets quite lively at night, and a pool not far away that offers spectacular views and all the good vibes during the day. The spa services and wedding offerings are quite popular. Its website boasts about the seal of approval received from the famed Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler magazine.<\/p>\n
Disconnecting from the rigors of everyday life, in other words, is the name of the game.<\/p>\n
Unless you\u2019re David Adelman.<\/p>\n
The Denver Nuggets head coach is sitting in the corner of the lobby on this early October evening, settling in to discuss his first full season at the helm of one of the NBA\u2019s most exciting and embattled teams. Yet as he discusses it all, from his unexpected promotion late last season<\/a> to the ensuing playoff run and this season of pressure and promise ahead, his mental motor is still running hot.<\/p>\n This is Day 3 of training camp, meaning the process of making this team his own is still in its infancy. Adelman, the son of Hall of Fame coach Rick Adelman, has been a pivotal part of their group as an assistant since 2017. He was tasked with running the Nikola Joki\u0107 and Jamal Murray-led offense, under former coach Michael Malone, that never ranked worse than seventh during that stretch (and was top five four times). He was there for all the times they came close to breaking through in those early years \u2014 with Joki\u0107 ascending to superstar status while Murray and Aaron Gordon proved to be near-perfect partners \u2014 and for the 2023 title run that ended with champagne showers.<\/p>\n But even with the proof of concept that they all showed in the most recent postseason, when the Nuggets downed the LA Clippers in the first round before nearly upsetting eventual champion Oklahoma City in a seven-game, second-round series, Adelman is the first to admit that there\u2019s still a long way to go. And to grow.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know we have the talent, and you have a lot of experience, but you just can\u2019t stand on stuff that you did before,\u201d Adelman told The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cI just went to my high school Hall of Fame enshrinement (at Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Ore.). It\u2019s fun to talk about things we did 25 years ago, but now is now, and you\u2019re moving on. So that\u2019s what this team is. It\u2019s a new identity of what we can be but without forgetting all the things that got us to where we were and to this point of being one of the standards of the NBA. So it\u2019s a delicate balance and a really fun challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n (Note: Conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.)<\/em><\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with last season. You\u2019ve got the dynamics with (former general manager) Calvin (Booth) and coach (Malone), and ownership shocks us all by cleaning house<\/a>. You get elevated, and it\u2019s \u2018Welcome to the big leagues. You\u2019re in the frying pan.\u2019 \u2026 But then you\u2019re right there on the edge with OKC in the second round. So, not to bring up painful memories, but safe to say that Games 4 and 5 kept you up at night a little bit over the summer?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, especially all the good things we did in those games, to get in those situations, and then to have it kind of fall apart very quickly. \u2026 It was their role players who won those games. The Sunday matinee was not a fun game to watch, but just give them credit. They had guys make shots. I thought we did a good job on their main players, and we just didn\u2019t do enough to finish out that game.<\/p>\n Then in Game 5, when you\u2019re up double digits in the fourth quarter \u2014 I know you\u2019re on the road \u2014 but you have to finish that game. And Lu Dort makes three straight 3s. Two of them I would live with. But to his credit, he made them. So you kick yourself for a lot of things, but when you work that hard to have the opportunities and then not follow through on them, you look back and you just wonder, \u2018What if?\u2019<\/p>\n Now, the what-if would have been Minnesota, and that would have been really tough. So people saying that if we beat OKC, we would have gone and done something else \u2014 we had a big challenge ahead of us. \u2026 So we squandered an opportunity that we created through really good play \u2014 high IQ play, physical play. We gave it away in some ways.<\/p>\n Does that frustration and the agony of defeat, over the course of these past few months, eventually start shifting toward reasons for optimism?<\/strong><\/p>\n I told the guys, and I really mean this: We won the championship in \u201923, then you lose two really tough Game 7s the last two years. You take those experiences and they make you better, and tougher, but they also don\u2019t mean anything in the moment, because this is the one moment you have for 25-26. Now is the present, and this is your one time to do this. Those are all just things you did in the past. It\u2019s time to write your own book here for this year, and I think they believe that. The way they started camp showed it. \u2026 We\u2019re not the returning champions, and we haven\u2019t been for two years. So that was something we did that was great back in the day. Now it\u2019s, \u2018What can this group do in this calendar season?\u2019 That\u2019s where your mind has to be, and right now the group has done that. That\u2019s because the leadership of the guys who came back and have been through the wars here \u2014 \u2018wars\u2019 in basketball terms. It\u2019s cool to see them mature a little bit, and it really, really is their team.<\/p>\n You have a unique challenge because you\u2019ve been here for a long time and were a big part of this program before you got elevated. I\u2019m sure you want this group to take on even more of your identity and your philosophies and your beliefs. But it\u2019s within this really familiar setting. So how do you make this your team while also (honoring) the foundation that it would be unwise to get rid of?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, it\u2019d be stupid not to maintain some things that have been constants, that won us playoff games. But it would also be stupid not to realize the league educates itself and people have guarded us differently in the last two years. So doing the same thing over and over is not going to lead to anything successful in June. We have to tweak things. Defensively, we have to try things we haven\u2019t done in the past. We needed, I think, new voices in the room. And then offensively, you stick with what you have, but you can do similar things in different formations and give the guys a fresh look and give other teams that scout us a fresh look.<\/p>\n You got me curious when you highlighted the two years of change in terms of how you\u2019re being guarded. What have you seen on that front?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s man defenses that really are zone defenses. It\u2019s tilted to our two main guys in the games. Teams have fully sold out to post-up play and (have) honestly allowed open shots on the weak side. And that\u2019s part of the game. A lot of teams do that. It\u2019s fronting Nikola and trying to impact the flow of our offense, and (opponents) did a good job of it. At the same time, we still were top five in offense.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s about the playoff games and how you can execute against physicality and all the stuff that comes with it \u2014 the way it\u2019s been officiated, the way the rosters have changed, with flexibility, playing small, playing big. We have to prepare ourselves for all those scenarios, because any opponent in the West, if we\u2019re lucky enough to get into that top six or (even) the Play-In (Tournament), they\u2019re all going to bring a totally different challenge.<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost like you\u2019re maintenancing talent along the way throughout the season to get ahead for the test. But you don\u2019t know what the test is going to be. That\u2019s our job. We know we have talent. We know we have a good team. Just trying to overprepare for what could happen is a big deal for us.<\/p>\n Defensively, when you get a little bit older, you have to mix it up more. We did that in the playoffs. We did the best we could. We tried to show zones and man and man that looked like zone. And we have high-IQ guys, so why not let them try things on the fly? I think you can get better as the year goes on, because we did it in a very short period of time.<\/p>\n Who are the new defensive voices?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jared Dudley, Mike Moser. Chase Buford will help with that group, and they\u2019ve done a great job so far. Obviously, it\u2019s been fun for me to dive back into this and have a partnership with new people and to hear what they have to say. Who we had in the past is great too, but this has been a cool thing to have their voices.<\/p>\n Previous relationship with Jared?<\/strong><\/p>\n Strictly word of mouth. The NBA, for me, has kind of been that. I don\u2019t really hang out in the circles very much, but I do respect certain people\u2019s opinions \u2014 that will go unsaid \u2014 who told me, \u2018You should really reach out to this person. I think he has a great chance to help you out,\u2019 and he\u2019s been really, really good., He\u2019s very confident when he\u2019s trying to teach. It\u2019s been a really good partnership so far. And then offensively, with J.J. Barea, John Beckett\u2019s back. Ogi Stojakovi\u0107, Andrew Munson. It\u2019s a lot of the same guys, with J.J. bringing that personality and that winning thing. And I\u2019ve been around J.J. He\u2019s one of those personalities you want to see every day, every morning, and that\u2019s important in an 82-game season. They\u2019ve been really good for the guys in this short duration they\u2019ve been here.<\/p>\n Going back to the topic of new additions, is this the best supporting group that this core has had?<\/strong><\/p>\n My enthusiasm is high. I do think that timeline needs to be discussed, too. You\u2019re talking six years ago, I mean, we had a revolving door of Jerami Grant, Mason Plumlee, Paul Millsap, Malik Beasley, Monte (Morris). Those are pretty good teams, not to mention the same two guys that are still here with us. So I think the exciting part is that the veterans that we signed are on the same timeline as Aaron, Jamal and Nikola. Christian (Braun) is \u2014 for the years in the league, feels like he\u2019s older \u2014 so they kind of all feel like they\u2019re in the same place going forward. And then we\u2019ve seen some growth from Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther.<\/p>\n Obviously, (Jonas) Valan\u010di\u016bnas coming in as a backup center is a big deal, and the flexibility of that on certain nights. People should be excited. But they should also be excited about the competition of the Western Conference. We\u2019re a problem \u2026 but so are they, and so I think that\u2019s why camp has been so good because the guys know what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n You mentioned Jamal, and I wanted your read on him for sure too. We chatted today and had a good big big-picture discussion about where he\u2019s at and how he\u2019s feeling. He talked about last summer and how it wasn\u2019t a pleasant stretch for him in terms of Team Canada (at the Olympics) and his body not responding well. In general, it just sounded like he wasn\u2019t himself last summer heading into the season, but right now, he\u2019s very excited about having a summer with a lot more rest and health. He seems to be in a good place. What\u2019s your view there?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve always taken the position that I agree that there\u2019s times we had rosters that were very experienced the last two years of the playoffs, in the sense of depth. And I think it\u2019s been really poorly reported on how much it also affected him, and that we were putting him with the second unit and he was just getting doubled and blitzed and attacked. People were changing each defender every possession, and we\u2019re saying, \u2018You\u2019ve just got to do this for 10 minutes. You\u2019ve just got to get through it.\u2019<\/p>\n There\u2019s not many guys who have done that, and then people would point at his numbers and never actually break down what he\u2019s actually going through and dealing with in those games. And so, as exciting as it is to get new guys to play next to Nikola and possibly what Aaron can do with them, it\u2019s really cool for Jamal. To be able to play pick-and-roll without (the opponent) just putting two on the ball every single possession, and actually being able to play with the ball and make plays for veteran players who can space the court, that\u2019s a big deal. That\u2019s not a shot at anybody who was with us, but depth affects everybody. It\u2019s not like it\u2019s just one person.<\/p>\n The point person is Nikola, and it should be. He\u2019s one of the greatest players of all time. But it has also affected Jamal, and I don\u2019t know if everybody remembers, but when we won the championship, Jamal was pretty good in the second unit because we had a different kind of team. Triple-doubles in the finals and 40-point games. When he plays in space, he\u2019s very special.<\/p>\n \n One of the Nuggets\u2019 most significant offseason acquisitions was big man Jonas Valan\u010di\u016bnas. (Jess Rapfogel \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On this current roster, who do you feel like relieves the pressure the most from Jamal?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think being able to play through Valan\u010di\u016bnas is a big deal in the second unit. He\u2019s a really good screener. It\u2019s a lot harder to blitz and put two on the ball and rotate a small onto a man that big, not to mention that if you do that, you\u2019re in rotations, and who\u2019s standing over there? Tim Hardaway. It\u2019s just a ripple effect to specialized defenses against him, and I think he will benefit from that.<\/p>\n I think the great thing about Jamal the last couple days is he hasn\u2019t fought anything. He\u2019s just playing. He\u2019s defended, and not that he\u2019s going to pick up (full court) all season, but he\u2019s been doing it in camp. He\u2019s been so communicative on the court, and it hasn\u2019t been about \u2018Are the shots falling?\u2019 or whatever else. It\u2019s been about just getting s\u2014 done efficiently, and he\u2019s done it right. That\u2019s part leadership. It\u2019s his efficiency, because guys see it, and they follow it. Guys follow that stuff. So he\u2019s been really good.<\/p>\n What did his offseason look like? I know he was in Denver most of the time, but anything unique or different about how he approached it?<\/strong><\/p>\n From what he told me, a lot of weights, getting his body right. I think making sure that he maintenanced the mental part of everything. He has a family now, and I think that helps you maintenance your week better. \u2026 As parents, we all become different people when our kids are around and they\u2019re experiencing something with us. So it\u2019s noticeable.<\/p>\n So the guy at the middle of it, the big fella, got the media talking today at practice when he spent so much time talking to the refs<\/a> after they called your scrimmage. I\u2019d heard that it was similar in Abu Dhabi last year, when he spent a lot of similar time with the refs (during the preseason). It\u2019s pretty widely known that he\u2019s always trying to win on the margins, and it seems like that\u2019s what those moments represent. But overall, where is he at right now? And what does a moment like that say to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s in a good mental state. He\u2019s 10 years in now. And like everybody else, he\u2019s grown up \u2014 not to mention he\u2019s not from the United States. So his voice has grown. His confidence has grown. He knows the league. He knows the faces in the league. I think he feels empowered to speak. It\u2019s not that he didn\u2019t feel empowered to play and win MVPs and be the best player in the world. But now I think he feels empowered to be one of the torchbearers of the league. He is one of those guys, and he should have a voice with these people. And by the way, that\u2019s one of the coolest things the NBA did for this whole thing, was bringing the real officials to these scrimmages. That\u2019s new and that\u2019s a big deal. And they reffed our really competitive scrimmage today (Mark Davis, JT Orr and Jason Goble). It was cool. They\u2019ve always come and talked to us about the rules, but never having a full-on scrimmage. (It was on-demand.)<\/p>\n So that moment did jump out at you a little bit, though, in terms of the conversations that he had with the refs?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I\u2019m thinking about the conversations he had in film sessions during the playoffs, where he always had an opinion. He\u2019s just more comfortable pointing it out and being specific to certain people. It\u2019s just leadership qualities. Then, not to mention Jamal and Aaron. I mean, those guys really took steps forward in all that chaos. I give them a lot of credit. It\u2019s really fun to coach a team where you\u2019re leading, but you also know that in the room, you have very responsible opinions that can help guide you as a coach. And having that partnership goes a long way. Now the message is being sent from everybody, not from me like I\u2019m a teacher talking to a bored class. Everybody\u2019s engaged. It\u2019s like one of the best classes you\u2019ve ever taken, when the students care as much as the professor.\n<\/p><\/div>\n DEL MAR, Calif. \u2014 The L\u2019Auberge Del Mar hotel, which overlooks the limitless beauty of the Pacific Ocean in this village north of San Diego, is the kind of peaceful place where people go to unwind. There\u2019s a bar near the front that gets quite lively at night, and a pool not far away that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nuggets-David-Adelman-talks-Nikola-Jokic-Jamal-Murray-NBAs-ruthless.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7522,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7520\/revisions\/7522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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