Denver Nuggets GM, Calvin Booth, finds himself in a bit of a controversy after an article published by The Ringer on Monday included quotes that he claims were not intended for the public.
The article discussed Booth’s decision to trade Bones Hyland last season and implied that Porter Jr., a key player on the Nuggets roster, didn’t fit well with him.
The quote raised eyebrows as it seemed to criticize Porter Jr., with Booth referring to him as a “me guy” and a bad defender.
However, Booth took the opportunity to express his admiration for both Hyland and Porter Jr. during an interview on ESPN on Tuesday night, shifting the blame onto O’Connor and The Ringer for publishing the comment.
Following his conversation with Kevin O’Connor, a writer for The Ringer, Booth now claims that some of his comments were not meant to be made public.
This revelation came during Booth’s appearance on the NBA on ESPN broadcast of a preseason game between the Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers.
Towards the end of the interview with Dave Pasch and Bob Myers, Booth was offered the chance to clarify his statements, particularly the ones about Bones Hyland and Michael Porter Jr.
“Under no circumstances would I make or approve of those kind of comments for public consumption,” Booth said on ESPN2. “It’s not my character as a person or executive, and I think it’s an unfair characterization of Michael and Bones. I think Bones is a great kid, has a bright future ahead of him, a charismatic player in our game. And obviously Michael is a core piece of our program with his character and offensive and defensive prowess. So I think that was unfair for those things to be put out there and hopefully it doesn’t happen in the future.”
"Under no circumstances would I make or approve of those kind of comments for public consumption," Nuggets GM Calvin Booth on recent quotes attributed to him by The Ringer pic.twitter.com/rgdXpFWu36
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 18, 2023
Although, contrary to what many expected, Booth did not claim that he was misquoted by The Ringer.
Instead, he stated that he either did not intend for the comment to be on the record or he expected it to be used as background information for the story, rather than a direct quote.
