Like fathers, like sons.

Deep in the NBA playoffs, the Nuggets are following in dad’s footsteps.

There’s assistant coach David Adelman, son of longtime coach Rick Adelman. There’s assistant Ryan Saunders, son of the late Flip Saunders. There’s head coach Michael Malone, son of the great Brendan Malone, another NBA lifer.

“I think about it a lot lately,” David Adelman told me Friday. “It’s surreal. It’s full circle for us.”

As the Nuggets opened a Western Conference semifinal with a 125-107 win over the Phoenix Suns Saturday, consider the parallels: three decades ago, David Adelman was an 11-year-old ball boy for the Trail Blazers, who were coached by his dad. Rick Adelman’s Blazers played the Phoenix Suns in a Western Conference semifinal.

Surreal.

Then, the seventh-grader’s favorite players were Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey and the rest. Now, at 41, they are Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and the rest.

“I remember like it was yesterday,” David Adelman said. “I remember the arenas the most. College-like atmospheres, fans right on top of you. It was so hot in that Phoenix arena — all of them, really. Such intense games.”

As ball boys, Adelman and Saunders grew up in a golden era for NBA basketball — the 1990s.

As coaches, they are all grown up in a golden era for Nuggets basketball — the Joker era.

The Nuggets lead the league in former ball boys.

Dan Shimensky, the team’s head athletic trainer, was an elementary school ball boy for the Trail Blazers — alongside David Adelman. Dan’s dad, Mike Shimensky, was a longtime trainer with the Clippers, Jazz, Blazers and Sonics.

Michael Malone appreciates that his staff grew up in NBA locker rooms. He did, too, father Brendan coaching the “Bad Boys” Pistons alongside Chuck Daly. Brendan Malone also coached with Rick Pitino, Don Chaney and Jim Boeheim. You see where Michael gets it from.

A basketball lifer himself, Michael Malone was drawn to young Adelman and Saunders.

“David Adelman, son of a Hall of Fame coach. Ryan Saunders, son of a legendary coach,” Malone said.

Flip Saunders passed away in 2015 at the age of 60. A beloved figure in ball, Flip actually encouraged his son to find a different career trail: “My dad tried to talk me out of coaching.”

“He would say, ‘You’re way too smart to be a basketball coach. Find a profession where you can be at home and be present with your family,’” Ryan Saunders told me. “But we all got a little screw loose. We love the competition. It’s in our blood.”

Quite literally.

This is the time of year childhood memories flood back. Malone’s father won the 1989 and ’90 NBA Finals with the Pistons. Saunders’ dad coached the T-Wolves to their only conference finals, in 2004. From the ages of 8 to 15, Ryan Saunders was a ball boy for Minnesota all-timer Kevin Garnett, whose famously relentless work ethic came with a side of colorful language.

“My dad would tell me: Hey, you don’t use that language in our house. But learn from his commitment and dedication and knowledge of the game,” Saunders said.

Their fathers’ advice remains priceless. When Michael Malone would grow frustrated after a loss, his father reminded him the old Pistons were “a process” that took nearly a decade of growth, maturity and the right bracket.

“You had to go through Atlanta, Boston and the Lakers before we could win a championship,” Brendan Malone told me in 2019.

Flip’s advice to his son: “‘Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness if you can’t control it.’ What he meant was that you can be as competitive as anybody, but you must be able to control it in the heat of the moment.”

Rick Adelman advises upon request, his son says.

“His lesson was always ‘owning your temperament’ — whether you’re coaching or with your wife or your kids,’” David Adelman says. “Life will go the way it goes, and you can’t control it. But you can control the way you react to it.”

Now the sons are fathers. The three Nuggets coaches each have two kids of their own.

“We’re also married to very special people who allow us to do this job,” Saunders says.

Ask about their dads’ old teams, and the grown men become those ball boys again.

Rick Adelman’s Blazers were a force of nature, twice advancing to the NBA Finals.

“That ’91 team, we had 63 wins. You looked at them and said, ‘That’s the best team in the NBA,’” David Adelman said.

The Lakers got ’em in the conference finals.

“I vividly remember Magic (Johnson) throwing the ball down the court and I was right there. I vividly remember Sam Perkins hitting a 3 from the top of the key. Those are painful memories. Man, I loved that team,” Adelman said, voice trailing off. “It’s a shame we didn’t win one.”

There’s still time.

***

Deep breath. Game 7 between the Avs and Kraken is 7:30 pm on Sunday.

Alex Newhook was 1 year old the last time the Avs won a Game 7. Same for Bo Byram.

It was May 15, 2002, the last time Colorado won a Game 7. Peter Forsberg scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over the Sharks. The Avalanche are 0-4 in Game 7s since then.

Hard to believe, these Kraken are 4-1 at Ball Arena. Seattle’s won here twice in this series.

Harder to believe, Nathan MacKinnon is 0-3 in Game 7s — with two losses in overtime.

***

Colorado stud of the week: Marvin Mims Jr., Broncos rookie

You’ll love the new Broncos wide receiver.

That’s the word from The Denver Gazette’s former Broncos writer — and our new one.

George Stoia knows all about Mims, the University of Oklahoma star whom the Broncos selected with the No. 68 overall pick. George is back in Norman covering the Sooners now.

“He’s crazy good,” said Stoia, who emphasized Mims’ brain (the OU finance major almost went to Stanford for engineering) and production (32 touchdowns in one Texas high school season).

Chris Tomasson doubled down to say the Broncos nailed it with their first pick.

“Not only did the Broncos get a wide receiver with a high ceiling, (but) they got a speedy guy who can step right in to be their primary punt returner in 2023,” Tomasson said.

***

What’s On Tap

Monday: Vinny Benedetto takes stock of the Nuggets-Suns series following Game 1.

Tuesday: Danielle Allentuck’s “MLB Insider” jumps around the MLB diamond.

Wednesday: Stay tuned as Tomasson takes a deep dive on the Broncos’ draft picks.

Thursday: The “Golf Insider” profiles RainDance National, Windsor’s 8,400-yard juggernaut.

Friday-Sunday: The Denver Gazette will be in Phoenix for Games 3-4 of the Nuggets’ series.

***

Just one question

What should the Nuggets get Suns point guard Chris Paul for his 38th birthday — next Saturday, between Games 3 and 4 in Phoenix?