Denver’s Mike Malone pushed LeBron James to be better in Cleveland

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — If Denver coach Mike Malone and LeBron James are friends now, it wasn’t always that way.
In fact, Malone said, it was probably his willingness to be hard on the budding Cleveland star that helped earn him respect. For five years as a Cavaliers assistant under Mike Brown, Malone was primarily a defensive-minded coach who made a point to give James tough love in his younger years.
“I never tried to be his buddy, I wasn’t trying to kiss his ass,&rdqu