The Denver Nuggets fired Michael Malone on Tuesday in the second stunning NBA coaching dismissal in as many weeks.
The news dropped from seemingly out of nowhere before lunchtime in Denver with less than a week remaining in the regular season. The Nuggets have three games left on their regular-season schedule and will now face the postseason without their leader who’s been with the team for 10 seasons and presided over the most successful era in franchise history.
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It’s an era that produced six consecutive playoff appearances and the franchise’s only NBA championship in 2023, just two seasons ago. But it wasn’t good enough to earn Malone job security.
While shocking on the surface, Malone’s dismissal is not without precedent. In fact, it fits the NBA trend. Of the last seven coaches to win an NBA championship, five have now been fired by the teams they led to titles within less than five seasons.
Only Kerr, Mazulla remain
Joe Mazulla remains employed by the Boston Celtics, who just won their title last season. Steve Kerr is a fixture with the Golden State Warriors after leading the franchise to four NBA championships since 2015. And that’s it.
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If you’re not the leader of a dynasty, the message for head coaches in the NBA is clear, even for those with recent championships on their résumés: It’s best to consider yourself expendable.
That was the message for Tyronn Lue, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel, Mike Budenholzer and, now, Malone. The Cavaliers fired Lue six games into the 2018 season, two-plus seasons removed from coaching Cleveland to its first NBA title. The Raptors fired Nurse in 2023, four seasons after he led Toronto to its only championship.
Vogel’s leash was even shorter. The Lakers fired Vogel at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, just two seasons after he coached Los Angeles to a title. Budenholzer was likewise two seasons removed from an NBA championship with Milwaukee when the Bucks fired him at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.
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Now Malone joins that list. And it’s difficult to decipher how the decision helps the Nuggets in the near-term or beyond. This, despite the team’s stated goal of competing for a championship this season.
That’s according to team president Josh Kroenke, the son of owner Stan Kroenke and the public face of Denver’s decision to dump Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, who’s contract won’t be renewed.
“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,” a statement from Kroenke reads.
Does firing Michael Malone actually improve Denver’s title chances? (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
(Dustin Bradford via Getty Images)
Does Malone’s dismissal actually make Nuggets better?
The Nuggets are 47-32 and in the midst of a heated playoff race in the tightly packed Western Conference, where six teams are within 1.5 games of each in other as they jockey for places 3-8 in the standings.
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Teams seeded Nos. 3 and 4 at the end of the season will earn home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Teams seeded Nos. 7 and 8 will be relegated to the play-in, with their spots in the full playoff field not guaranteed.
At the time of Malone’s dismissal Tuesday, the Nuggets occupied fourth place in the West with three games remaining on the schedule. Assistant coach David Adelman will lead the team for the rest of the season.
The Nuggets have faltered of late and are in the midst of a four-game losing streak thanks to a number of factors. Denver’s defense has been porous and ranks 20th in the league in defensive rating. Point guard Jamal Murray has been injured (hamstring) and has missed five straight games. And the roster built around three-time MVP Nikola Jokić remains without another All-Star, as it has throughout this run, including the 2022-23 championship season.
Coaching or roster construction?
Are these downfalls the fault of Malone? Murray’s injury certainly isn’t.
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Defensive struggles can certainly be partially pinned on coaching. But the more obvious culprit is decisions since the 2023 title to allow defensive cornerstones Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to walk in free agency. The Nuggets have done little to replace those pieces in terms of defense, and this season’s team is struggling on that end of the floor.
Which takes the conversation back to roster construction. This iteration of the Nuggets has always leaned heavily on Jokić and has even more so this season as Jokić puts up historic numbers — in part out of necessity. Too much of the offense depends on Jokić, and there’s little gas left in the tank on the defensive end for a roster lacking in defensive stoppers.
This is all a fine reason to consider dismissing your general manager. As for firing your coach three games out from the postseason? That remains a head-scratcher.
