Micah Nori: From Baseball to the NBA Sidelines. The Unique Story of this Denver Nuggets Assistant Co

DENVER, CO- As far as NBA coaching stories go, Denver Nuggets assistant coach Micah Nori has had a unique path to his NBA career. Some may think that in order to coach in the NBA, one would have to have some high level of basketball playing experience to be qualified for the job. Nori has been defying those odds since entering the NBA in 1998 with the Toronto Raptors.

Nori’s basketball playing experience ended in high school in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio where he more so excelled in baseball. Nori earned a full baseball scholarship to Indiana University where he was a standout on the team playing shortstop and second base for four years. After graduating from Indiana, Nori later went on to earn his masters from Miami University (OH) where he served as a graduate assistant on the baseball coaching staff.

At this time, another Middletown, Ohio native and longtime family friend Butch Carter had just gotten hired as the Toronto Raptors head coach. Butch is the older brother to NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter and also a former NBA player himself for the Lakers, Pacers, Knicks and 76ers. Carter had just come off a stint working as an assistant coach and scout with the Milwaukee Bucks from 1992 to 1996. Carter had played high school sports for Micah’s father who was a longtime coach in Middletown. “My father was a coach at Middletown High School where Butch was a student and outstanding athlete,” said Nori. “Butch was the oldest of seven kids with a single mother and just had a great connection with my father, looking up to him as a mentor and father figure.”

Time aligned perfectly and as Carter got hired as head coach of the Raptors, Nori had just gotten out of grad school and was looking for his next move. “Butch called me up and asked if I would like to come up and intern with the Raptors,” said Nori. “He said that it didn’t really matter that I had been doing baseball, that it’s about dealing with people and how you relate with them and I took the position as a coach’s assistant.”

What was initially thought to be a brief stay for Nori in Toronto, ended up being a 15 year stint with the organization. He first started as a coach’s assistant intern and later becoming an advance scout and assistant coach. As an assistant coach, Nori worked under both Jay Triano and current Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. After his time in Toronto, Nori became an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings under head coach Michael Malone.

His relationship with Malone stemmed off of a dinner in Toronto when Malone was coaching with the Golden State Warriors. They spent over two hours at dinner along with Wes Unseld and Nori really enjoyed his conversation. “I sent him a text after dinner and told him I enjoyed our time and thought he would be a head coach in this league someday,” said Nori. “I said if you are ever a head coach, I would love an opportunity to sit down and talk with you because you’d be a great guy to work for.” That conversation resonated with Malone and as soon as he got the job in Sacramento, he brought Nori onto the staff.

Their relationship has continued to their current job in Denver with the Nuggets and has allowed Nori to continue his career in the NBA. “The more people you can meet and the more people that like you and see what you have to offer, the better off you are,” said Nori. “Relationships are huge! Who you know, especially in this business, is almost important as what you know.”

You may wonder what types of learning curves Nori underwent switching from playing and coaching baseball, to coaching in the NBA. He alluded to the fact that sports are sports and that it wasn’t a difficult adjustment. “In any sport, the most important thing for coaching is explaining the why, as in by doing this, then this is what we will take away,” said Nori. “Sports are sports and at the end of the day it is getting guys to believe in what you are doing, believe in themselves and be able to trust you.”

As an NBA coach, the amount of work that goes into preparing and being knowledgeable is very important. The best teams are the ones who are the most prepared. “You are dealing with the best basketball players in the world, so you have to be very prepared to know your stuff because these players are not only great basketball players, but are also very smart,” said Nori.

When it comes to working in the sports industry in general, Nori had some important information for people to know that aspire to crack the industry. “You have to realize that in the first few years of being in the business you are going to basically be a volunteer or work for very little,” said Nori. “The hardest part of the industry is just getting in. Once you are in then it is on you which is great because I like to bet on myself. You have to be accountable, on time, be humble and check your ego at the door.”

In Nori’s current job with the Denver Nuggets, his goal continues to be just giving an honest day’s work each day and continue to get better at what he does. “I want to continue to learn and grow and would love to be a head coach one day. I prepare as if I am one and I think you should, but I would also be happy coaching as an assistant for 20 more years,” stated Nori.

Nori appreciates what he has been given from working in sports and attributes a lot of his success to the help of others. “The opportunities I have been given, people I have met, places I’ve gone and opportunity given to me to provide for my family based on a game is incredible,” said Nori.

The moral to Nori’s story is that through relationships, education, hard work and willingness to sacrifice you can become anything you want to be. At times you must think strategically, but anything is possible and despite Nori never playing any higher than high school basketball has become a long-standing NBA assistant coach with a great reputation across the league. “You must want to grow and you will move up through hard work in your own merits,” said Nori.

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