Hidden behind the Nuggets’ years of success was a toxic, tension-filled environment that began to spew into all levels of the organization.
It began near the top of the organization between head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, and when the wins started turning into losses, their negative energy spilled over into the locker room.
This led to Malone and Booth’s firings — only a shock to those not close to the situation.
“Everybody in the organization was miserable,” a Nuggets source said, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Ramona Shelburne. “That’s what [Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke] felt. It’s a bad vibe. You can’t operate like that. He felt that if he removed those two people, everybody could just focus on doing their job. Change needed to happen.”
Malone and Booth’s head-butting primarily arose from their differing opinions regarding which players were most crucial to the team — Booth wanted younger guys he drafted to be developed and prioritized, while Malone wanted proven veterans to work alongside Nikola Jokic while he ran the show.
“They just saw the world completely differently … The situation was just unsustainable,” team sources told the outlet. “Coach Malone and Calvin couldn’t fix it because they made the situation all about themselves.”
This caused an unhealthy relationship that manifested essentially everywhere.
“If you’re one of Calvin’s guys, Malone doesn’t want to play you,” a team source said.
With this, players were beginning to listen to their coach less and less, as “the players were freakin’ miserable,” and “the effort would come and go.”
Malone had long been the outspoken face of the team, while stars Jokic and Jamal Murray were typically quieter leaders.
And while Malone’s messages had been well received for years, things weren’t clicking this season as players watched their organizational leaders feud.
Kroenke had to make a decision, but with the team already so divided, the choice had to be to eliminate both sides of the equation.
“I’ll put it on both of them,” a team source said. “You’re the leaders. Both are responsible because they weren’t getting along. It’s the egos. Then everything trickled down.”
David Adelman, who is expected to field head coaching offers this offseason, has taken over as interim head coach with just two games remaining in the regular season as Denver hopes he can uplift the team and provide a spark heading into the postseason.
Team sources say the players “respect” Adelman and “get along with him.”
This was seen in the Nuggets’ win over the Kings on Wednesday, when Christian Braun said “I think as far as communication goes, it was probably our best game of the year … We had players communicating to each other instead of relying on a coach to tell us everything.”
The Nuggets are currently the fourth seed in the loaded Western Conference where anything could happen in the closing two games.
They’re a game behind the Lakers for the No. 3 seed entering Friday’s slate, but just a game ahead of the Timberwolves who sit at the No. 8 spot.
