The Denver Nuggets have parted methods with head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Sales space with solely three video games remaining within the common season.
This gorgeous transfer comes barely two years after Malone guided the franchise to its first NBA championship.
Whereas the timing seems surprising, indicators of inside pressure had been brewing beneath the floor.
A very revealing second from late March has resurfaced, exhibiting Malone’s rising frustration along with his workforce’s strategy.
“It was a brutally trustworthy message,” Malone stated. “The blokes which are stuffed with s*** received’t hear it. They’ll say. ‘Coach is tripping.’ And the fellows that perhaps do actually care will, as a result of they’re not going to return and watch their minutes. No one watches their minutes, no one watches movie, so we’ll have to point out them the movie.”
“They’re going to say ‘coach is tripping’… No one watches their minutes, no one watches movie…”
– Mike Malone two weeks in the past 😬
(h/t @pointfour__ )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 8, 2025
These sharp feedback clearly hinted at disconnection inside the Denver Nuggets’ locker room.
Malone seemed to be calling out sure gamers’ work ethic and their resistance to criticism – uncommon public frustration from a coach who had led the workforce to the NBA’s pinnacle simply months earlier.
Even acknowledging these tensions, the group’s determination to make such drastic adjustments now raises critical questions.
The Nuggets presently discover themselves in an important battle for playoff positioning within the hyper-competitive Western Convention.
With simply three video games left, they might end anyplace from third to eighth seed – dramatically impacting their championship hopes.
Assistant coach David Adelman will step in as interim head coach to information the workforce by way of the rest of this tumultuous season.
The group has indicated that they’ll conduct a radical seek for everlasting management as soon as their playoff run concludes.
For a franchise that tasted championship glory so just lately, this sudden management vacuum creates each uncertainty and alternative as they head into a very powerful video games of the yr.
NEXT: Austin Reaves Has Trustworthy Admission About Anthony Davis Commerce