Less than two years ago, Michael Malone was at the top of the NBA world.
After leading the Denver Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history in June 2023, he was introduced at the championship parade as “the Lakers’ daddy,” a moniker he assumed after eliminating Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals. As thousands of fans screamed, he told them he wasn’t satisfied. “We don’t want one [championship],” Malone said. “We want two.”
Fast-forward to Tuesday, with the Nuggets in fourth place in the Western Conference and only three games remaining in the regular season, the team made a shocking move, firing Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.
Malone was at the helm of the Nuggets for 10 years and was the franchise’s winningest coach (510-394). Assistant coach David Adelman will serve as the interim coach. Booth, who was on an expiring contract, had served as general manager since 2020.
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The Nuggets’ decision is surprising for many reasons. The most stark among them? The timing.
The Nuggets are considered championship contenders and a major shake-up at such a critical juncture is eyebrow-raising. Interestingly enough, another Western Conference contender did the same thing just over a week ago, with the Memphis Grizzlies firing coach Taylor Jenkins.
For the Nuggets, the question is, will this disrupt the team’s continuity? In the West, only two games separate the third-seeded Lakers from the eighth-seeded Grizzlies, meaning the Nuggets are among six teams that are in danger of falling into the play-in tournament.
Or, as the Nuggets front office clearly hopes, will this move jolt a team that had lost four games in a row amid Jamal Murray missing five games because of a hamstring injury, helping them turn things around?
“This decision was not made lightly and was evaluated very carefully, and we do it only with the intention of giving our group the best chance at competing for the 2025 NBA championship and delivering another title to Denver and our fans everywhere,” Josh Kroenke, vice chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, said in a statement. “While the timing of this decision is unfortunate, as Coach Malone helped build the foundation of our now championship-level program, it is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now.”
It’s well known that there was a rift between Malone and Booth, with them disagreeing over Malone’s desire to re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and his preference to have a win-now approach, prioritizing proven veterans. Caldwell-Pope, who was an important piece of the Nuggets’ championship team, left in free agency last summer, as did Bruce Brown.
This season, the Nuggets have struggled with injuries, lineup changes and they’re 20th in defensive rating.
Malone recently called out his team’s effort after a loss to the 12-seeded Portland Trail Blazers on March 21, urging his players to look into the mirror and to take more pride in their minutes. He added that he was “embarrassed by that game and by our approach.”
The Nuggets also recently lost at home to the 13th-seeded San Antonio Spurs on April 2.
But with Jokic in a two-horse race with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the MVP Award and the Nuggets poised for another playoff run after six straight postseason appearances, the Malone firing was entirely unexpected.
The fear was, with the way things were going, the Nuggets would fall short of expectations this postseason for the second year in a row. In 2024, they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the playoffs in a seven-game series.
Over Malone’s decade-long tenure with the Nuggets, he transformed the franchise.
He oversaw Jokic’s rise from being selected by Denver as the 41st overall pick in the 2014 draft to becoming a three-time MVP. He also stood by Jamal Murray after he suffered a torn ACL and missed the entire 2021-22 season. At the time, Murray was worried he’d be traded. Malone told him, “Hell no. You’re ours.”
Murray went on to average 26.1 points on 47.3 percent shooting, 5.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists during their championship run. “My team has always had the belief in me,” Murray told FOX Sports at the time.
The firing of Malone is ironic considering he has been one of the most vocal critics of how the coach’s seat has become a revolving door, with whomever is at the helm being scapegoated for the team’s issues.
Three of the four coaches who won a championship between 2020 and 2023 have been fired, including Malone, Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer. And since the start of the pandemic, 27 of the 30 NBA teams have changed coaches, with the lone exceptions being San Antonio (Gregg Popovich), Miami (Erik Spoelstra) and Golden State (Steve Kerr).
Less than four months ago, Malone didn’t hide his disgust at the Sacramento Kings’ decision to fire Mike Brown, who was the unanimous winner of Coach of the Year in 2023. The Kings, who also fired Malone in 2014, broke the news to Brown over the phone.
“No class, no balls.” Malone said in December.
Now, Malone is on the receiving end of shocking news.
Just a short time ago, Malone was enjoying drinks and being embraced by his players as he stood on a stage in front of thousands of adoring fans.
But in the blink of an eye, he became a part of a statistic he despises.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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