The Denver Nuggets on Tuesday announced the sacking of head coach Michael Malone in a move that sent shockwaves through the National Basketball Association (NBA), Afrosport reports.
Malone, who led the Nuggets to their only title in 2023 and has recorded eight consecutive winning seasons with the franchise, has been relieved of his duties with less than a week to the end of the regular season.
Lead assistant David Adelman will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, with the Nuggets also parting ways with general manager Calvin Booth after five years.
Malone joined Denver in 2015 and holds the record for the most wins in franchise history, boasting a 471-327 record in regular-season games. He holds a 44-36 record in the playoffs and led Denver to the NBA Finals in 2023, the Western Conference Finals in 2020, and the Western Conference semifinals last season.
The Denver Nuggets have relieved Head Coach Michael Malone of his duties and will not extend General Manager Calvin Booth.
David Adelman will assume our head coaching role for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Full Release: https://t.co/d176KtKK5w pic.twitter.com/dMYlxIqoCl
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 8, 2025
Vice chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Josh Kroenke, revealed that it was a difficult decision to part ways with the 53-year-old, who is the fourth-longest-serving coach in the NBA behind San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, and Golden State’s Steve Kerr.
“It is with no pleasure that we announce that we have relieved Michael Malone of his head coaching duties, effective immediately,” 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.
“There is no amount of gratitude that we can properly convey for his contributions since he joined our franchise in 2015. It is with our utmost respect that we would like to thank Coach Malone for the most successful decade in Nuggets history, setting the all-time wins record and helping deliver Denver our first championship.”
The Nuggets failed to finish with a winning record in Malone’s first two seasons but have since become a force in the Western Conference, with the team set for a seventh consecutive postseason appearance this season.
Denver (47-32) sits fourth in the West standings but has lost its last four games and is in danger of losing home-court advantage in the postseason or, worse, dropping into the Play-in Tournament.
The Nuggets head to the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to take on the Kings on Wednesday night before hosting the Memphis Grizzlies and finishing the season at the Houston Rockets.
