On Tuesday, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets announced that head coach Michael Malone would leave his role effective immediately, and general manager Calvin Booth, who only has weeks left on his contract, won’t be receiving an extension, essentially ending his stint with the franchise, leaving the sports world in disbelief.
Explaining the rationale behind the unexpected decision, team president Josh Kroenke said in a statement:
“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.”
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The Nuggets are fourth in the Western Conference but have lost four straight games and are only 0.5 games clear of the Memphis Grizzlies, who are eighth in the standings. Despite Denver’s dismal play, few expected the team to move on from Malone. The team has only three games left on its regular season schedule and has control over its playoff destiny.
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However, the Nuggets’ top brass had lost faith in the coach who led them to their maiden NBA title win in 2023. The NFL world also felt the reverberations of Denver’s seismic decision.
Former Detroit Lions quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky wrote:
“The NBA is wild.”
Assistant coach David Adelman has been named the interim head coach, and the Nuggets will commence their search for a new general manager in the offseason.
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Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein
