The Denver Nuggets have fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, the team announced Tuesday. It’s a pair of shocking dismissals in the final week of the NBA regular season. Malone led the Nuggets to an NBA championship in 2023, less than two years ago. Denver lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2024, and the team (47-32) could finish anywhere from as high as third in the Western Conference to as low as eighth in the standings this season.
Malone, who was about to complete his 10th season with the franchise, is the winningest coach In Nuggets history, and had made the postseason six consecutive times. Malone, until this week, was the only head coach three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić has played for in his 10-year career.
Assistant coach David Adelman is taking over as Denver’s interim head coach, the team announced.
Team owner Josh Kroenke released a statement Tuesday, calling the timing of the decision “unfortunate.” He said he wants to give his team the “best chance” at competing for a championship this year. Here’s how Kroenke explained the surprising move to fire Malone:
“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. 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,” Kroenke said. “Championship level standards and expectations remain in place for the current season, and as we look to the future, we look forward to building on the foundations laid by Coach Malone over his record-breaking 10-year career in Denver.
“There is no amount of gratitude that we can properly convey to his contributions since he joined our franchise in 2015. 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.”
However Kroenke explains it, the timing of Malone’s dismissal doesn’t make a ton of sense. But then again, the Nuggets aren’t the only playoff-bound team in the last few weeks to part ways with their head coach. The Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins at the end of last month. Clearly there’s some recent precedent for this. But it doesn’t make it any less confusing.
There’s been reported tension behind the scenes with the Nuggets regarding a power struggle between Malone and Booth, and prior to the announcement that Booth was also heading out the door, it could be explained that ownership sided with the front office. However, the Nuggets ousted both, deciding that starting fresh was the best path forward.
Given the high expectations surrounding the Nuggets, there was always going to be pressure to succeed, but ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that this season especially has been “tense and pressurized,” with both Malone and Booth having differing ideas on how to lead the team. Malone’s been known to favor playing veterans, while Booth and the front office have wanted Malone to lean on the younger guys on the roster and develop the talent they drafted. Young guys like Christian Braun, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson have all seen their playing time increase significantly, in part because the Nuggets wanted to avoid the heavily restrictive second tax apron, which resulted in not re-signing veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
You could argue that the Nuggets have underperformed this season, given they’ve got the best player on the planet suiting up for them on a nightly basis in Jokić. Since the All-Star break, Denver has gone 11-13, and while Jokić has done practically everything he can to will this team to wins, on several occasions it hasn’t been enough. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon have dealt with injuries, which have certainly factored into Denver’s waxing and waning, but that clearly didn’t weigh enough into Denver’s decision to fire Malone.
As far as Booth goes, he had been with the Nuggets since 2020, and in Kroenke’s statement, he noted that the Nuggets will not be extending his contract past this season.
“I want to thank Calvin Booth for leading our front office for the past three years and most importantly for helping put the final pieces in place for the roster that delivered Denver and our fans their first NBA Championship,” Kroenke said. “Calvin’s knowledge of the game, his passion for scouting, and his long history as a player and executive in the NBA helped lift our organization to new heights which we will continue moving forward. We are grateful to Calvin for his eight years with the Nuggets and know his place in Nuggets history as our first championship winning GM will be honored for years to come.”
Now the Nuggets will head into the postseason under new direction with Adelman — son of Hall of Fame head coach Rick Adelman — in charge. It will certainly serve as a tryout for the lead assistant to secure the job past this season, but Denver will also likely look at other candidates when the season ends. The same goes for general manager, which is an equally pressing issue as the NBA Draft and free agency creep up quick after the playoffs.
