The Denver Nuggets have fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, the team announced Tuesday. The moves come with the Nuggets sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference with just three games left in the regular season.
They are stunning decisions considering the Nuggets are 47-32 and in the middle of a tight playoff race. Malone’s firing also comes just two years after he led the team to a championship. Assistant David Adelman will take over as the team’s interim head coach with Malone out, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, who originally reported the news.
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Team vice chairman Josh Kroenke confirmed the firing in a statement Tuesday, saying it “was not made lightly and was evaluated very carefully.” Kroenke added that the move was made to give the Nuggets the “best chance at competing for the 2025 NBA Championship.”
The move ties an NBA record for the latest coaching change in league history, per Charania. Hubie Brown was fired by the Atlanta Hawks with just three games left in the 1981 regular season. The Hawks were 31-48 at the time of Brown’s firing.
Five of the past seven coaches to win the NBA championship have now been fired, with Malone joining Nick Nurse (Toronto Raptors), Frank Vogel (Los Angeles Lakers), Mike Budenholzer (Milwaukee Bucks) and Tyronn Lue (Cleveland Cavaliers).
Malone and Booth reportedly had been at odds throughout the season, disagreeing over personnel decisions, among other matters. Charania reported that ownership “felt like the signs were there that this season was not going to end well,” and that a move like this could “ignite” the team ahead of the postseason.
Per Altitude TV’s Vic Lombardi, Kroenke’s immediate expectations for the team are to “play hard and have fun.”
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While the Nuggets haven’t performed as well compared to last season, when the team went 57-25 and finished second in the Western Conference, Denver didn’t completely collapse in 2024-25. The team has yet to clinch a playoff spot, but sits in strong position with a few games left in the regular season. With their playoff spot on the line, however, the Nuggets are on a four-game losing streak. Adelman will be tasked with turning that around, and getting the team to play its best ball in the postseason.
It helps that Adelman has Nikola Jokić, arguably the best player in the game. Despite that, the Nuggets have struggled to put effective pieces around Jokić this season. The team has also seen its defense slip considerably. Denver is allowing 117.1 points per game to opponents, one of the worst marks in the NBA.
Malone’s tenure may have ended abruptly, but it’s hard to argue with his success in Denver. In 10 seasons with the Nuggets, Malone, 53, posted a 471-327 record, good for a .590 winning percentage. The Nuggets reached the playoffs six times under Malone, winning the NBA championship in 2023.
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Prior to joining the Nuggets, Malone spent two seasons with the Sacramento Kings, where he had a .368 winning percentage. Given his age and success in Denver, Malone should draw attention from multiple teams looking for a new coach in the offseason.
Booth joined the Nuggets in 2020. His tenure with draft picks has been spotty, with only Christian Braun developing into a starter with Denver. The team traded for DaRon Holmes II during the 2024 NBA Draft, but he tore his Achilles days later and has not played his entire rookie season with the team.
Adelman, son of former NBA player and head coach Rick Adelman, got his coaching start with the Minnesota Timberwolves before heading to the Orlando Magic for one season. He joined the Nuggets for the 2017-18 NBA season, and has been an assistant with the team since then.
While Adelman has served in assistant roles over his coaching career, Wednesday will mark the first time he’s served as a head coach during an NBA game.