Michael Malone thinks Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. The head coach thinks the Denver Nuggets guard deserves more recognition within the league.

Michael Malone Is Pushing For Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s Spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive Team
Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports details the head coach’s thoughts about one of his more underrated players—Malone’s more than impressed with Caldwell-Pope after his performance against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas day.

“Watching him tonight was… If that guy is not considered one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, I don’t know who is. I just have to say that because I don’t think KCP gets the respect that he deserves, to be honest.”

Michael Malone
Furthermore, the 52-year-old coach is impressed with how well the shooting guard sticks to his assignment.

He also explores the game’s ebbs and flows of offense and defense, citing an interesting but simple concept.

“I think KCP is one of the best I’ve ever seen in terms of not allowing any separation. If you want to simplify the game of basketball, great defensive players negate separation, and the great offensive players create it.”

Michael Malone
Additionally, his team thinks he’s an NBA All-Defensive First-Team player, which says a lot about his performance. With his performance this season, the two-time NBA champion is making a strong case for a spot.

Meanwhile, Caldwell-Pope doesn’t seem to listen to the usual buzz of “good player equals high scores” and focuses on his lane.

Thanks to this attitude, he’s elevated two teams to their respective rings.

“We think he’s a First Team All-NBA Defensive player. He takes tremendous pride on that end of the floor. He knows that for this team, that is his No. 1 job each and every night, to go out there and guard the other team’s best player. And he does it at an extremely high level.”

Michael Malone
Is Caldwell-Pope Really That Good At Defense?
When you first look at his stat sheet, it doesn’t seem like it. He’s only averaging 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks a game this season. However, this is where his “underrated” nature comes in.

Wind adds a few examples of how well the 30-year-old defends his assignments. He forces turnovers and general discomfort for the Warriors’ superstar shooter.

Furthermore, in both their games against the Warriors, he’s forced Stephen Curry to take worse shots to the point that it’s way below his average.

In their November 8 game, Curry only made 35 percent of his shots. Specifically, he only made six shots of 17, totaling up to 23 points with free throws.

In the Christmas Day game, the two-time scoring champion only hit 33 percent of his shots. Seven of his 21 shots went in, totaling only up to 18 points.

Considering Curry is averaging 27.9 points this season while making 46 percent of shots, that’s quite the difference.