DENVER – It was 1994, and Greg Kampe had an opening for an assistant coach on his basketball staff at Oakland University. The “Bad Boys” were just down the road in Detroit, and Pistons assistant Brendan Malone came to Kampe with a request.

“His dad said: ‘I’m not asking you to hire my son, just have him in for an interview,'” Kampe said. Michael Malone got the job at Oakland – fresh out of college at Loyola (Md.), his first real job in basketball – and on Tuesday was introduced as the head coach of the Denver Nuggets.

“He had a voice. For a young guy (Malone was 23), he was extremely knowledgeable but wasn’t overbearing,” Kampe said. “He has his own beliefs, but he has a special ability to listen to what everyone else says and apply their thoughts to his own.”

I have a lot of questions about the state of the Nuggets, but these two stand at the top: Who is their voice and what’s it saying? Too often in the dysfunctional two seasons since George Karl was fired, their message has changed course midstream.

First it was, “Half-court, defensive-minded ball is the way to playoff success!” Then it was, “Wait a second, guys, did you know we play at 5,280 feet? Let’s run!”

The Nuggets need a voice, a crystal-clear message that doesn’t budge in the face of player mutiny or front-office conflict. In his first press conference as the coach, Malone’s voice boomed loudest. His was a microphone of conviction. While performance on the court ultimately will determine if this was a good hire or bad hire, his strong message settled my concerns there are too many voices at Pepsi Center.

On a dais with team president Josh Kroenke and general manager Tim Connelly, Malone ran the point, first thanking his parents for 44 years of support, then shooting down the notion he prefers a sluggish, deliberate style of play.

“I have coached 106 games as an NBA coach,” Malone said. “Don’t paint me and put me in a hole by saying, ‘This is who you are.’ I play to the strength of our roster.”

Instead of the I-know-best approach that doomed Brian Shaw, Malone echoed my belief the Nuggets already witnessed the best formula for winning in Colorado.

“I want to be like ’08-09,” Malone said. With that, I fought back the urge to give him a man-hug and kiss his bald head.

That version of Nuggets action ball was known for Carmelo Anthony’s scoring and J.R. Smith’s antics, but it also ranked among the NBA’s top 10 in defensive efficiency.

“I believe in playing fast,” Malone said. “But more important to me is playing with efficiency.”

Fueled by their own arrogance, the Nuggets sped away from what made them good. Malone seems to grasp that departure was a mistake setting them back years.

“From Day One they’ve made it very clear they want to play fast,” Malone said.

The 21-minute press conference also was an exercise in defiance. At one point I half-expected Kroenke to bellow into a mic: Us against the world! Malone was defiant, too. He explained how he would approach a Nuggets roster that saw George Karl’s firing as setting a precedent that winning games isn’t the top priority, since, after all, they fired a winner.

“My question to all of these guys is: How serious are you about winning?” Malone said. So he must have heard the Nuggets have doubled as a clown show lately.

Kroenke was defiant, probably because he reads the honest words printed in this space. “My dad wasn’t involved (in the decision to hire Malone),” Kroenke said.

Maybe Stan should’ve been. On the surface this hire looks like the last hire – a longtime assistant with a reputation as a defensive coordinator – and Kroenke’s last hire stunk.

But the fact that Malone carried the strongest voice in the room – but also is open to differing opinions – sure offered a promising first step.

A strong voice is necessary at Pepsi Center, never more so than now, when there are enough voices in the front office to field a casting call for “American Idol.”

At the same time the Nuggets are trying to relearn their identity, the front office is adding more identities – more voices. There’s Kroenke, whose decision to pass on Melvin Hunt to hire Malone suggests he’s still trying to prove this is his team. There’s Connelly, whose judgment day arrives June 25 for the NBA draft. Now there’s Pete D’Alessandro, a former general manager in Sacramento; and Malone, whose 106 games in Sacramento, under a wayward regime, surely taught him the importance of a streamlined vision.

That’s a lot of fishermen in one stretch of river, a lot of voices that must work in harmony. What the Nuggets need is a unifying voice, and Malone’s could be it.

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Twitter: @bypaulklee