In a shocking turn of events, the Denver Nuggets have fired head coach Michael Malone with just three games remaining before the regular season ends.
Malone helped lead the Nuggets to a championship in 2023 and had been with the team for 10 seasons. He finishes with a 471-327 record.
David Adelman, the team’s lead assistant coach, will step in as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Booth was named the team’s general manager three years ago, after Tim Connelly left for the Minnesota Timberwolves. His contract will expire at the end of the season.
It was Minnesota that knocked out Denver in last year’s West semis in seven games, despite the Nuggets holding a 20-point lead at halftime.
The Nuggets have been slumping with four straight losses and are 11-13 since the All-Star break. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon have had injury issues all season. The team’s depth has taken a serious blow with the losses of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown over the last couple seasons.
Nuggets ownership has historically avoided paying the luxury tax.
All the while, Nikola Jokic has been having arguably the best season of his career with 30.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists, and 1.8 steals. He is shooting 57.7 percent from the field including 41.5 percent from three-point range over 67 games. He could earn his fourth MVP award in five seasons.
Denver sits fourth in the West with a 47-32 record.
Josh Kroenke, vice chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment which owns the Nuggets, released a statement:
“There were certain trends that were very worrisome to me at different points in time. But they would get masked by a few wins here and there and in the world of professional sports, when winning and losing is your currency, winning can mask a lot of things.”
He also expressed for Malone’s time.
“There is no amount of gratitude that we can properly convey to his contributions since he joined our franchise in 2015,” Kroenke said. “It is with our utmost respect that we would like to thank Coach Malone for the most successful decade in Nuggets history, setting the all-time wins record and helping deliver Denver our first championship.”
Malone’s Final Nuggets Presser Going Viral
After the most recent loss to an Indiana Pacers team playing without Pascal Siakam, Malone absolutely tore into his team.
When speaking after the game, Malone provided some insight into what that message entailed.
“It was a brutally honest message and the guys that are full of sh*t, won’t hear it,” Malone said. “They’ll say coach is tripping, and the guys that maybe do really care… They’re not gonna go back and watch their minutes because nobody watches their minutes, nobody watches film. So, we’ll have to show them the film.”
Many online are reading into his words as a sign that he had lost the locker room.
I’m gonna lose my mind pic.twitter.com/7tQ3YoB2Ft
— Mike Malone’s #1 Hater #WEUP (@avengemesatin) April 8, 2025
This isn’t new territory for Malone. He hasn’t shied away from publicly challenging or criticizing the team in the past. He can also be just as gracious in his public praise when things are going well.
How much his tirades grew tiresome will only be known on the inside, at least for now.
