Charles Barkley Gives Blunt Assessment Of Denver Nuggets Firings

This week, the Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA by firing coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth. Not much information has been released about the decision but it surprised many. One of them was TNT analyst Charles Barkley, who spoke about it with Altitude Sports Radio. "No. 1, I was shocked because he got fired," Barkley said. "I like Mike Malone as a coach. But I was shocked for two reasons. No. 2, three games to go in the rest of the regular season. But he had a done really good job. I know they had been struggling." The Nuggets were successful under Malone and Booth, defeating the Miami Heat in the 2023 Finals. Last year they were ousted by Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round despite Nikola Jokic winning a third Most Valuable Player award. This year, the Nuggets could finish high as the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Barkley thinks there was beef between Booth and Malone, but owner Josh Kroenke got rid of them both to avoid taking a side. "They're like (11-13) since the All-Sta