Denver Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke said in a statement that the decision to fire both head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth was not done in haste.
“It is with no pleasure that we announce that we have relieved Michael Malone of his head coaching duties, effectively immediately. David Adelman will assume our head coaching role for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
“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,” Kroenke’s statement read.
Malone was the fifth highest-paid coach in the NBA, per Sportico, before his firing. Only Steve Kerr ($17.5 million), Gregg Popovich ($17 million), Erik Spoelstra and Ty Lue tied at $15 million are ahead of Malone in coaching salary ranking.
The Nuggets significantly raised his salary to $12 million annually after leading them to the franchise’s first-ever championship in 2023. They failed to defend the title, losing in seven games to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round.
ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported the shocking firing of Malone and Booth.
Winningest Coach in Nuggets Franchise History
Kroenke thanked Malone for his contributions to the franchise.
“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. Championship-level standards and expectations remain in place for the current season, and as we look to the future, we look forward to building on the foundations laid by Coach Malone over his record-breaking 10-year career in Denver.
“There is no amount of gratitude that we can properly convey to 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,” Kroenke’s statement read.
Malone leaves Denver as its winningest coach in franchise history with a 471-327 record.
Nuggets Remain Mum on Calvin Booth Firing
Kroenke has yet to release a statement on Booth’s firing.
According to Chris Haynes, Booth and the Nuggets “failed to reach terms on an extension that both parties felt was satisfactory before this season.”
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, who wrote a controversial profile on Booth while he was still with The Ringer, wrote that the two men never liked each other in his reaction post on X.
“Absolutely nuts. Booth and Malone never liked each other, rarely spoke, and talked behind each other’s backs. With the team struggling on the court, Nuggets ownership decided to fire both. Insane,” O’Connor wrote.
Booth and Malone have butted heads over roster construction as the former pushed for the younger players to get more playing time while the latter wanted to lean more on veterans.
Zach Lowe, formerly of ESPN, reported this divide between Malone and Booth in his now-defunct “Lowe Post” podcast last year.
“There are rumblings,” Lowe said at the time. “Rumblings! That the coaching staff and front office, or at least the head coach and the front office, aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye in Denver. To a degree even unusual for the NBA.”
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