The Denver Nuggets’ decision to fire head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with just days to go in the 2025 season sent shockwaves through the entire NBA. Many people had different ideas behind why Josh Kroenke and the rest of the Nuggets ownership made the decision at this point in the season, and the crew on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” pointed to a game at the start of the month.
“That Minnesota loss, I think, broke them” 👀
The Tuesday Crew reacts to HC Michael Malone’s shocking exit in Denver pic.twitter.com/p9n5Wlj9zJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 8, 2025
Candace Parker, who is one of the greatest players in the history of the WNBA, cited the double-overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the catalyst to the downwards spiral of Denver’s season. Jokic had a 60-point triple-double, and a late collapse by Russell Westbrook was a gut punch to fans, players, coaches and the organization as a whole. That game sparked the current four-game losing streak that the Nuggets are in the middle of, and raised eyebrows about the issues within the organization.
Parker also talked about how the “scary part” of the Nuggets situation is how quiet the locker room has been recently, as Malone had described in recent press conferences. She said that a quiet locker room is scary to her because a locker room that wants to win is loud and full of people talking and even arguing.
Vince Carter and Shaquille O’Neal, who are two NBA legends, were both puzzled by the decision to fire Malone this late in the season instead of letting him have one more shot at a playoff run. Carter talked about how difficult that is for the players, as this is the time of the year when rotations are getting finalized for the playoffs and players are looking for a “voice” to lead them into the postseason.
That voice, even though it wasn’t working as of late, is now gone for Denver, and the team has to go back to the drawing board with just days before the postseason.
O’Neal also thought that the way the Nuggets handled things needed to be more professional given that Malone is the franchise leader in wins and led the team to its only title. He talked about his championship season in 2006 with the Miami that was filled with many “peaks and valleys” and that as long as a team gets hot at the right time, that’s all that matters. The Nuggets currently hold onto the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, as they will hold the tiebreaker over the Los Angeles Clippers when the season ends. If they have home-court advantage for just one round, that could provide just enough of a spark to start playing good basketball at the right time.
Parker, O’Neal and Carter have played their fair share of basketball, and know the impact that this has on the Nuggets. Their stunned reactions were just three of thousands, as the entire NBA world was left in shock by the decision.
