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Ohm Youngmisuk
The Denver Nuggets dismissed head coach Michael Malone and said they would not extend the contract of Calvin Booth General Calvin Booth on Tuesday, just a few days before the end of the regular season.
David Adelman, the main assistant of the Nuggets, will take over as a chief coach for the rest of the season.
The shocking decision to dismiss the coach and finally separate from the managing director who won a championship in 2023 arrives at a time when the Nuggets (47-32) lost four consecutive games and risk falling into the game. This was a frustrating section for the Nuggets, because the quarter MVP and the current candidate MVP Nikola tried to keep things together Jamal Murray was released for five consecutive games with a hamstring injury.
Sources have told ESPN that there was growing tension between Malone and Booth entering the season. Since the team won the championship, the Nuggets went with younger players like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson in the heart of Jokic, Murray and Aaron Gordon of the team. Veterans like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown left in the previous summers during the free agency to sign larger offers elsewhere.
Malone had been with the team for 10 seasons, leading the Nuggets to their only NBA championship. He had a file 471-327.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said Josh Kroenke, vice-president of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, in a team press release. “And was evaluated very carefully, and we only do it with the intention of giving our group the best chances to compete for the NBA 2025 championship and to deliver another title to Denver and to our fans from all over the world.
“Although the calendar of this decision is regrettable, because the coach Malone has helped build the bases of our championship program now, this is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level at the moment. Standards and expectations of championship level remain in place for the current season, and while we turn to the future, we are impatient to rely on the foundations set by de Denver. “
Booth has been promoted as the Director General of Nuggets in the past three seasons after Tim Connelly’s departure for Minnesota Timberwolves. The first season of Booth was the season of the Denver Championships in 2022-23.
“I would like to thank Calvin Booth for managing our front office for the last three years,” said Kroenke. “And especially for having helped to put the final pieces in place for the list that delivered Denver and our fans their first NBA championship. The knowledge of Calvin on the game, his passion for scouting and his long history as a player and executive of the NBA have helped to raise our organization towards new peaks that we will continue to go ahead. We are grateful to Calvin for his eight years with Nuggets and Ass our field Will Will Hongets to take place in Nuggets in Nuggeth coming.
Adelman, the son of former head coach Rick Adelman, has been assistant to the Malone team for eight seasons. He interviewed for the vacancies of head coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer.
Jokic is now advancing without the only head coach he had throughout his career.
“There is no gratitude that we can properly transmit to his contributions since he joined our franchise in 2015,” said Kroenke about Malone. “It is with our greatest respect that we would like to thank the coach Malone for the most successful decade in the history of Nuggets, establishing the record for victories of all time and helping to deliver our first championship to Denver.”
Shams Charania d’Espn contributed to this report.
