Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson is a fan of Baylor's Quincy Miller (pictured). ( Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)
The NBA's quickest point guard needs more bandwidth. Ty Lawson desperately wants to tell the Nuggets which player to steal in the draft's opening round. But not this second. First, Lawson must fast-forward Denver coach George Karl through a crash course in Twitter for Dummies.
"I twitted," Karl said Wednesday, proud of his 13th and latest tweet, congratulating Mike Dunlap for being hired as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. "Ty, how many twitters you got?"
Twitted?
This mangling of social media lingo was met by Lawson, in true 21st century fashion, with a shake of his darn head.
"What's twerps?" Karl asked.
"Tweeps," said Lawson, offering gentle correction to his 61-year-old coach.
Lawson has also been coaching up Nuggets general manager Masai Ujri on personnel matters.
Spoiler alert: Lawson thinks he has found a sleeper in a lean, long teenager who could be the biggest draft-day steal since last year, when Denver landed Kenneth Faried. The prospect Lawson wants is a forward from Baylor. But it's not Perry Jones III. Now, if Lawson can only get Ujiri to listen.
It has been less than six weeks since the Nuggets were eliminated from the playoffs. The NBA Finals champion has yet to be crowned. But Lawson is already back in the gym at the Pepsi Center, playing hoops with teammates, inspecting rookie prospects and trying to pump up the number of followers for Karl's new Twitter account.
Through the wonders of the Internet, old footage of Karl displaying mad combo guard skills in China is available for viewing on tv4u.com. Karl insisted Lawson could watch it as a learning tool. Or maybe Lawson should view it strictly for laughs. In the grainy footage, a young, shaggy-haired Karl looks as if he walked into the gym straight from the basement sofa in "That '70s Show."
As I stood between Karl and Lawson on the practice court, the Nuggets point guard urged his legion of tweeps to also follow Karl. On second thought, however, Lawson wondered if Twitter had just became tragically unhip and began typing a new message on his smartphone:
"Hold up if @coachkarl22 is getting on twitter it might be my time to delete mine lol."
Lawson can multitask at the same speed he dribbles: 30 megabits per second. But what's the real significance of this blur in Nuggets blue?
At age 24, Lawson seems to have taken full ownership of his team's success.
After often being coaxed by Karl to become more aggressive in everything from scoring at crunch time to leadership during practice, it appears the message has finally been embraced by Lawson.
If the Nuggets have any hope of evolving from first-round playoff fodder to a serious threat for Western Conference supremacy, Lawson must take on this team's improvement as a personal quest. No matter how much money a player earns, winning ultimately must be a labor of love, in much the same way Tim Duncan has defined the San Antonio Spurs' personality or Kobe Bryant's competitive scowl became the face of the L.A. Lakers.
Here's a possible draft scenario coming into focus as a legitimate possibility for the Nuggets. As unlikely as it seemed four weeks ago, there's a chance Ujiri could have his choice between two players from Baylor.
Jones is a 20-year-old forward with the skills of a lottery pick and the motor of a 1971 Chevy Vega. He's dropping fast on many draft boards. Available when the Nuggets pick at No. 20? It's hard to believe, but know that Jones is now on the radar of Denver's front office.
The other prospect from Baylor is 19-year-old Quincy Miller. The red flag is a torn ACL in his left knee suffered during 2010. The upside is length and a shooting touch that has scouts dreaming that Miller's NBA career path will follow somewhere between the footsteps of Rashard Lewis and Kevin Durant.
Lawson lobbied Ujiri to take a gamble on Miller.
Giving an assist wherever possible comes naturally to a point guard.
This score just in: Lawson 111,330, Karl 13,796.
I asked Lawson if he's concerned Karl would surpass him in Twitter followers.
Quicker than a man can fall down and roll on the floor with laughter, Lawson replied, "No."
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
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