May 28—PORTLAND, Ore. — Facundo Campazzo entered his NBA experience with a question.
The 30-year-old rookie from Argentina asked if he needed to change his approach, according to Nuggets coach Michael Malone. Campazzo admitted a habit of getting under the skin of teammates — namely Sergio Rodriguez and Sergio Llull — with his unrelenting play during practices with his previous team, Real Madrid, and wondered if that same intensity was welcome in Denver.
“Here in the NBA, is it different? Should I not be as aggressive or push these guys?'” Malone remembered him asking. “I said ‘No, please push Jamal Murray. Push Monte Morris. I want you to make their lives hell every day, because that is only going to help them and you and us moving forward.’ So he earned the respect of his teammates right away.”