Nuggets fire coach Michael Malone, GM Calvin Booth

The Nuggets confirmed in a press release Tuesday that both head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth have been let go.

“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 … It is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now,” vice chariman Josh Kroenke said as part of a larger statement.

Malone was dismissed in a meeting earlier Tuesday, ESPN's Shams Charania reports. The 53-year-old helped Denver win its first NBA championship less than two years ago.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne hears that Kroenke informed Malone and Booth of the news Tuesday morning (Twitter link).

Assistant David Adelman will be the Nuggets’ interim head coach. Adelman has been the acting coach a few times in the past when Malone was unavailable.

The timing of the news is pretty shocking, primarily because there are only three regular season games remaining on Denver’s schedule. The Nuggets have dropped four straight games, including a dispiriting loss to Indiana on Sunday, and are in danger of falling into the play-in tournament.

Denver is currently 47-32, the No. 4 seed in the West, but only a half-game ahead of four other teams with one less win and the same amount of losses.

Malone had been head coach of the Nuggets for nearly 10 years, having been hired in June 2015. He is the organization’s all-time leader in wins, compiling a 471-327 record (.590 winning percentage) during the regular season and 44-36 mark in the playoffs (.550).

According to Charania (Twitter link), Malone’s ouster is tied for the latest coaching change in NBA history, matching Hubie Brown being let go by Atlanta back in 1980-81. Malone is the second longtime coach of a potential playoff team to be fired in the past two weeks, joining Taylor Jenkins, who was dismissed by Memphis.

While Malone was reportedly under contract through 2027, Booth was on an expiring deal. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Booth and the Nuggets failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension before the 2024-25 season began (Twitter link).

A former NBA player, Booth had been with the Nuggets for eight years, having been promoted to GM in 2022, when former head of basketball operations Tim Connelly was hired away by the Timberwolves.

Multiple reports last year indicated that Malone and Booth often butted heads and had differing views on the best way to build around superstar center Nikola Jokic. Instead of keeping one or the other, the Nuggets have decided to part with both before the season concludes.

Forward Michael Porter Jr. acknowledged at the beginning of the season that major changes could be in store if the Nuggets failed to win a championship in 2025. Surprisingly, the team decided to make some of those changes before even seeing how the rest of 2024-25 played out.