Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkić did not have a great relationship with Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone during his time with the team. He didn’t appreciate Malone benching him at the tail-end of the 2015-16 season. But he especially didn’t like how Malone decided to “sweet talk” him instead of being more honest and forthcoming about his situation.

“Mike Malone came to me with all this sweet talk, saying that I was going to be fine and that he couldn’t wait to see me back,” Nurkić told Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated. “If you like somebody else, play them. But don’t come to my home and say that I’m going to be the starting center and then play someone else.”

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Nurkić seems to have a legitimate gripe in terms of being led down the garden path by Malone. It should've been a frustrating feeling for him to get his hopes up because of Malone's sales pitch only to get passed over for Nikola Jokic.

That sweet-talking tactic was obviously Malone's way of trying to keep Nurkić happy during a tough situation surrounding him and Jokic. But it was one which he likely should've handled more with honesty out of respect for Nurkić.