Bill Simmons drops Jamal Murray theory on why Nuggets fired Michael Malone

As the Denver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone, there were some rumblings he treated star player Jamal Murray differently than everyone else. However, Bill Simmons feels that there is more to the story than that.

On his podcast, he explained something rather interesting regarding why Malone was fired.

“I wonder if Jamal Murray is healthy,” Simmons said. “If they feel like the team is going the wrong way in the playoffs and Jamal Murray is not 100% healthy and they lose and that becomes the excuse why they fell apart down the stretch.

“Then it becomes harder to clean house and fire everybody. You just do it now so there’s no excuse. You have a 50-50 maybe he’s going to be where he was in December for the playoffs. Maybe not, but you hit the reset button either way.”

The firing comes at an interesting time, as the Nuggets are set to make the playoffs. While there was some evident tension, the team was 47-32 and had the fifth seed in the playoffs.

Firing a coach with only a handful of games before the playoffs start is interesting, to say the least.

Bill Simmons says Nuggets’ Jamal Murray was Michael Malone’s downfall

Although Murray’s injury history wasn’t the direct result of Malone’s termination, it played a factor. After all, he has played 65 games so far but missed substantial time due to a hamstring injury.

Simmons’s theory is that if the Nuggets knew Murray wasn’t healthy, they wouldn’t put up a legit fight in the playoffs. However, they don’t want the narrative to be Murray’s injury is why they failed.

As a result, Simmons believes they fired the general manager, Calvin Booth, and Malone to avoid that. Murray’s injured hamstring is an issue heading into the playoffs.  In addition, they’ll be with a new coach in David Adelman as well.

Furthermore, Murray’s four-year, $208 million extension has some people feeling sour. While his statistics tell a different story, some feel that he hasn’t been worth that contract.

It doesn’t help that Nikola Jokic has performed at an MVP level for the past four or five seasons. Either way, the firing comes at a strange time and was one that apparently couldn’t be waited out.

Now, Denver will have Adelman to lead the way for the remainder of the season. As for Simmons’s point, if Murray’s hamstring injury flares up, then there will be no hiding from the truth.

Then, people will start to question if Malone’s firing was worth it or not.