Ex-Lakers Champion Shares Thoughts On Joining Nuggets Staff

"I was interviewing for different teams," Dudley said. "Then I got a text message from (David Adelman) after they asked for permission (from Dallas). They wanted me to come up there. I was overseas in Singapore doing Basketball Beyond Borders, and he said to take a week and let's do dinner."

"I told him, I said, 'Hey, listen, anytime it's for the number one spot for the Denver Nuggets, I'll fly out the next day. So I flew out the next day."

"We had a phenomenal dinner. Dinner went four and a half hours. It was our first time really talking and just breaking down offense, defense, how we would do things, how we wouldn't do things. By the time I hit the plane, the offer was already done."

In terms of what Dudley plans to bring to the organization, that starts with helping the team establish an identity.

"My job here is to help bring the adjustments, bring a different identity, intensity from a player perspective, and help this team get over the hump," Dudley said. "So that's my job, to push guys in a former player away to get to them."