The Denver Nuggets' firing of head coach Michael Malone revealed a surprising trend among recent NBA champion head coaches.
Four of the last six coaches to win the NBA Finals have been fired by the team they guided to a championship which includes Nick Nurse, who was fired by the Toronto Raptors four years after winning the 2019 NBA championship; Frank Vogel, who was fired by the Los Angeles Lakers two years after winning the 2020 NBA championship; and Mike Budenholzer, who was fired by the Milwaukee Bucks two years after winning the 2021 NBA championship.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazulla are the only two coaches to have won an NBA championship within the last five years that are still with the same team. Malone and general manager Calvin Booth were both fired on Tuesday (April 8), just two years removed from Denver winning its only NBA championship in franchise history.
Malone is the winningest coach in Nuggets history with a 471-327 regular season record in 10 seasons. The firings came days before the conclusion of the 2024-25 NBA season with the Nuggets currently fourth in the Western Conference with a 47-32 record, but having lost four consecutive games, with three remaining.
Nuggets lead assistant David Adelman will reportedly serve as the team's interim head coach following Malone's firing, according to Charania. Malone's reported firing is tied with the Atlanta Hawks' firing of Basketball Hall of Famer Hubie Brown during the 1980-81 season as the latest coaching change in NBA history, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
Booth, 48, a former NBA player, initially joined Denver's front office as an assistant general manager in 2017 and was promoted to general manager in 2020. The Nuggets will conclude their regular season schedule with a road game against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday (April 9), a home matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday (April 11) and a road game against the Houston Rockets on Sunday (April 13).