GettyDenver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone weeks before playoffs.

Nuggets fire Malone weeks before playoffs

Many question the Denver Nuggets’ decision to fire their former head coach Michael Malone on April 8, 2025. At the time of his firing, Malone was the head coach for the last 10 seasons. The Nuggets were playing some of their worst basketball of the season as they couldn’t win any games consistently.

The Nuggets decided to move forward with David Adelman as the interim head coach. Former MVP and team captain Nikola Jokic was very supportive of the decision as he rally the team going into the playoffs.

“I knew a little bit before everybody,” Jokic said after the game. “And he told me, ‘We made a decision.’ So it was not a discussion. It was a decision. He told me why. And so, I listened. And I accepted it. I’m not going to tell you what he told me. I’m going to keep that private.”

The Nuggets made the right decision with David Aldelman

Fast forward to now and the Nuggets are going to the next round after winning the series against the Los Angles Clippers in the first round. Clippers head coach Tyrone Lue knew he was going to play a well-coached team in the playoffs despite the sudden change.

“I know the players respect him, just you know, talking to the players throughout the summer, (hearing) that he’s a really good coach,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said Monday. “And I had a chance to coach against him. … He does some good stuff. He has a good demeanor about him on the sideline, and when you’re taking over for the first time, it’s good to be in the trenches with those guys for four or five years (first).

Coach Adelman is thrilled to win the series for the fans and the team however he understands that it’s not the championship.

“It feels good, but we know that we have to fly to OKC,” Adelman said. “We know that it’s not the championship. I’m sure it kind of felt that way to the fans on both sides because this series was so insane and it had so many ups and downs. This has been one of those series where you don’t forget that you were a part of it. Before this series started, I said it felt like seven, and seven is exactly what it took.”

Nuggets gearing up for a big series against the Thunder

The Nuggets haven’t played the Thunder in a playoff series since 2011. Most of the  regular season games between the two teams were before Alderman. Head Coach Mark Daigneault expects the Nuggets to look a lot different than they did when they played them earlier in the season.

“I mean, good data point,” he said of studying Denver’s first-round series. “It gives you a good understanding of how they play against the Clippers, but it doesn’t give you a good understanding of how they play against us. This series will have its face.”

It should be a good series between two of the NBA’s better teams.

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