Less than two full years after winning the Denver Nuggets their first ever NBA championship, the team has fired head coach Michael Malone, according to multiple reports.

Malone, who had been with the Nuggets since 2015, had the team in the position to make the playoffs in the 2025 season.

In a concurrent move, Denver also is set to fire general manager Calvin Booth – who had been with the franchise since 2017 and in the GM role since 2020.

Reports indicate that lead ᴀssistant coach David Adelman will serve as Denver’s interim head coach for the rest of the season. 

Even though these firings come amidst a four-game losing streak, the timing of these moves is still bizarre. 

At the time of the moves, the Nuggets sit fourth in the тιԍнтly contested Western Conference and in an automatic playoff spot with just three games remaining in their season.

The Denver Nuggets have shockingly fired head coach Michael Malone before the playoffs

Denver is currently 17.5 games back on the conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets are currently half a game behind the third place Los Angeles Lakers, but only half a game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies – who sit all the way in eighth place.

Malone, the Queens native and son of former NBA coach Brendan Malone, has been coaching basketball since 1993. 

This move comes just over a week after a similarly shocking move when the Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins. Memphis was, and still is, in position to make the playoffs.

According to NBA reporter Mark Stein, Jenkins and Malone being axed is the first time in NBA history that two teams with winning records fired their head coaches with less than ten games left in the regular season.

ESPN’s Shams Charania says this is tied for the latest coach firing in NBA history – with Malone joining Hubie Brown, who was axed from the Atlanta Hawks this late in the 1980-81 season. 

MORE TO FOLLOW.