In the final week of the NBA regular season, the Denver Nuggets shocked the basketball world by parting with head coach Michael Malone. Still months away from officially beginning their search, one longtime analyst touched on the idea of him throwing his hat in the ring.
During a recent episode of his "All NBA" podcast, Tim Legler touched on the Nuggets dismissing Malone just before the postseason. When his co-host asked him about leaving his role as an ESPN analyst to enter the coaching ranks, he didn't shy away. Legler feels he could implement effective systems in the NBA, and gushed at the idea of coaching a player like Nikola Jokic.
"Well listen man. I got a lot of ideas about what I would do as a head coach in this league," Legler said. "I feel like I'd have some pretty good stuff ready to go. And if you tell me I get to coach a guy like Jokic, yeah sign me up."
New Nuggets head coach?? pic.twitter.com/c3Ogfg40jE
— ALL NBA Podcast (@ALLCITY_NBA) April 12, 2025
Along with his years of covering the NBA as a TV analyst, Legler also has firsthand experience. After going undrafted, he managed to have a decade-long career in the league as a journeyman. Legler suited up for multiple franchises, including the Nuggets for one season (1991).
Seeing that the Nuggets are a contending-level team with one of the game's top stars on the roster, this is going to be a highly coveted coaching position. Countless candidates are surely going to line up at the chance to build a system around the three-time MVP.
While Legler doesn't have any coaching experience, being a former player does give him some merit. Also, it wouldn't be the first time an on-air analyst quickly transitioned to being a coach and had success.
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