Peyton Watson’s first real lesson in accountability came with a sting.
Now with the Cleveland Cavaliers after a sign-and-trade from the Denver Nuggets that landed him a four-year, $88 million deal, Watson looked back on a moment from his rookie season that still sticks with him. In a conversation with former Nuggets teammate Michael Porter Jr., now with the Nets, Watson revisited the time Michael Malone put him on the spot during practice in the 2023 playoffs.
Watson said he was on the scout team and having a little fun while running the role of KD in practice before Game one or two. Then Malone called him out in front of everyone.
“Coach Malone asked me in front of the team, ‘Okay, P, what’s the name of this play that we’ve been running that you just ran?’”
Watson didn’t have the answer, and that was all Malone needed.
“I remember just being like, ‘I don’t know.’ I really just don’t know.
I didn’t know. His face turned red, bro, and he just started chewing me out.
‘You’re the youngest one in here. You should be paying attention.
We give you a book with all the plays on it. You should know these things.’”
Malone kept going, telling Watson that not knowing the play showed he hadn’t been paying attention and might not be ready if his number was called. Watson said the room went dead quiet.
“You could hear a pin drop in the practice facility. I remember feeling embarrassed, pissed off. I’m like ‘How could he single me out like that while I was just here trying to help prepare everybody?'”
The moment hit hard in real time. Watson said he was close to tears, and even Nikola [Jokic] later told him Malone was making a point to the rest of the team, with Watson catching the blow.
“But I remember that moment stinging, bro. And I remember even Nikola [Jokic] came up to me and he was like, ‘He didn’t have to do that.
But like he wanted everybody else to know how serious the moment was. And you were just collateral in that,” Watson recalled.
Porter Jr. jumped in with his own perspective, saying he felt the same way early on. He described thinking Malone was picking on him, only to later realize the coach’s approach pushed him to mature faster.
“You were collateral. I remember the few weeks following, you were really down because you were thinking he didn’t like you. But the thing is, like, during those moments, cuz I’ve had plenty of those moments with Malone.”
“Like during those times I remember thinking, like, ‘Man, this dude just doesn’t like me; like, he never does this to Jamal. He never does this to Joker. He’ll never say anything to AG, but he’s getting on my a- all the time.'”
Porter Jr. said those moments helped him grow, and he believes the same thing happened with Watson.
“So you thinking he just don’t like you. But what I realize now was like those like him doing those things and coaching me the way he did, it definitely did grow me up quicker,” Porter Jr. said.
“And just like you said, like the fact that you took that and yeah, it hurt for a little bit, but the fact that it turned you into a player that knows players’ tendencies, that knows the plays.”
“Cuz I remember even playing with you, you were very on top of it, you know, on a scouting report, and we’re going through walkthroughs and, you know, that moment probably was a big reason for that,” Porter Jr. concluded.
Watson agreed that the moment changed the way he approached the game.
“So, yeah, 100%. That’s funny, bro.
That was funny, even more at the time, bro. I remember damn near tearing up.
I’m like, ‘Bro, he’s chewing me out right now.’ I felt sick to my stomach.
But I also took it like, he wouldn’t be saying nothing to me if I wasn’t an important piece of this team and he didn’t think I could be really good moving forward,” Watson added.
“He was holding me to a high standard. At the time I hated that s-t, but in retrospect it was responsible for my attention to detail now,” he admitted.
Back in 2022-23, Watson appeared in just 23 regular season games and averaged 8.1 minutes per game. Since then, he has climbed steadily, earning more trust from the coaching staff and carving out a real role.
That growth showed in his 2025-26 season line: 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the floor and 41.1% from three. Now he’s cashing in with Cleveland, and he says the harsh lesson from Malone helped set that path in motion.
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