According to reports from ESPN and the Denver Post, the Denver Nuggets fired head coach Malone as of April 8. ESPN later confirmed that the team also fired general manager Calvin Booth.
After a rocky start to the season, the Nuggets seemed to find a rhythm. Injuries to almost all the top players on the team, particularly Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray, have made the road difficult, but behind another historic season from three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, the team seemed to be in a good place heading into the final stretch of the season.
But the Nuggets slid from second place in the west to fourth with a 47-32 record after losing four games in a row. If four teams behind the Nuggets win on April 8, the Nuggets could find themselves in the NBA's Play-In Tournament to even make the playoffs.
In the Nuggets' April 6 game against the Indiana Pacers, the team gave up a late double-digit lead on the way to a loss. On the bench, Gordon and forward Peyton Watson appeared to get into a heated discussion.
With the announcement that Murray could be out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, the picture looks pretty bleak for the Nuggets — but firing a coach and general manager with just three games left in the season is a dramatic step. Another potential playoff team, the Memphis Grizzlies, fired its coach within the last month, so the move isn't totally unprecedented in the NBA, however.
BREAKING: The Denver Nuggets have fired coach Michael Malone, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/bZoKRx6kgt
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2025
Fans of the Nuggets have worried in recent years that Jokic's prime is being wasted as the Nuggets have taken home just one championship in 2023 but failed to make the conference finals in 2024.
Whether the blame should fall on Malone's coaching or Booth's front office has been a debate among fans. It seems the Kroenke family, which owns the team, has decided neither man is up to the task.
"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. While the timing of this decision is unfortunate, as Coach Malone helped build the foundation of our now championship-level program, it is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now," Nuggets president Josh Kroenke says in a statement.
Malone started with the Nuggets in 2015, leading the team to the playoffs for six consecutive seasons since 2018. Malone bought a new house in the Denver area for nearly $7 million over the offseason after signing a multi-year extension with the team in 2023. Booth became the GM of the team in 2020.
David Adelman, the Nuggets lead assistant coach, will serve as the interim coach of the team.
