How The Timberwolves Contributed To Michael Malone's Firing

According to ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania, the Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone during a meeting on Tuesday, April 8. The team also fired general manager Calvin Booth.

These moves come exactly one week after Minnesota defeated Denver in a double-overtime thriller which sparked "Game of the Year" discussions.

A playoff team cleaning house just three games before postseason basketball is not something you see. 

After coming back from being down 3-2 and ultimately eliminating the Nuggets in last year's Western Conference Semifinals, Minnesota kept that same energy this season. 

The Wolves swept Denver 4-0 during their regular season series while averaging 126.8 points per game, dominating in all aspects.

Malone had some comments last week regarding the matchups between these teams.

"I think they've approached these games like it's a rivalry and I think we've approached these games like it's another game sometimes," Malone said.

He also talked about how a Nuggets assistant coach, who scouts the Timberwolves, told him that Minnesota never plays as hard against other teams as they do against Denver.

Since these comments, Malone's team lost four straight games, which all started with that double-overtime loss to the Timberwolves last Tuesday.

Lead assistant David Adelman will serve as the team's interim head coach as Denver heads into postseason play.

This marks the second recent unexpected coaching fire in the Western Conference. The Memphis Grizzlies parted ways with head coach Taylor Jenkins just 11 days prior to Malone's firing.

Job security for NBA coaches seems to be at an all-time low and it raises questions to how secure these playoff teams' coach and organization jobs really are.