Breaking: Michael Malone and Calvin Booth Out in Denver

Read Time:2 Minute, 29 Second

In what is another shocking move right before the end of the season, another head coach has been fired with less than five games left in the season. Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was fired on Tuesday afternoon after 10 seasons with the team. In the same reports, it was announced that Nuggets GM Calvin Booth was fired by the team as well. At the time of Malone’s firing, the Nuggets had a record of 47-32 and were fourth in the Western Conference. In the team’s last 10 games, the Nuggets would have a record of 3-7, losing four games in a row.

In his 10 seasons with the Denver Nuggets, Michael Malone coached the team to a record of 471-327. The team would win at least 40 games in all except Malone’s first season coaching the team in the 2015-16 season. In nine full seasons with the team, the Nuggets missed the playoffs in only three seasons, losing in the second round three times, losing in the first round once, and losing in the Western Conference Finals once. He would lead the Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history in 2023.

In a statement from Nuggets CEO and President Josh Kronke, he explained the reasoning for Malone’s firing:

“The 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.”

For Calvin Booth, the GM would be fired after only three seasons with the team. After several years in the front office with the New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves, Booth would join the Nuggets in August 2017, becoming the team’s assistant general manager. In July 2020, Booth would take over as Denver’s general manager when former president of basketball operations Tim Connelly promoted him to replace the current Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations, Arturas Karnisovas. Booth was in the last year of his deal.

While the team already had its core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr., Booth made moves that directly contributed to the team winning the 2023 NBA Championship, adding Bruce Brown Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

David Adelman, the Nuggets’ lead assistant coach will the team’s interim head coach through the end of the season. Adelman spent time with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic as an assistant before joining the Nuggets as an assistant in 2017. With Adleman spending eight seasons with the team as an assistant, there is a high chance he is the team’s head coach next season.

Malone’s firing comes just after the Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins with less than 10 games left in the season. While the situations in Denver and Memphis are quite different, Malone’s firing is the more shocking of the two.