There has been no indication that Denver Nuggets’ superstar center Nikola Jokić pushed for the shocking firing of head coach Mike Malone less than a week before the playoffs begin.
But it apparently didn’t come as an enormous surprise to him, either.
“My understanding is as soon as the decisions were made to make these firings, Josh Kroenke called Nikola Jokić, informed him of the decisions. And Nikola Jokić, I’m told, understood,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday’s NBA Countdown. “This franchise, what was going on right now, it’s in a bad place and he understood the organization’s move.”
While the Nuggets are 47-32 and likely about to reach the postseason for the seventh straight year, which included winning the title in the 2022-23 season, cracks in the foundation were starting to become apparent.
Many of them started with the rift between Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, who was informed that his contract won’t be renewed after the season at the time Malone was fired.
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk reported that “tension had been brewing between Malone and Booth for quite some time, so much so that sources described it as a ‘cold war.’ Denver has lost four straight and is just 11-13 since the All-Star break. Players such as Jokić have displayed frustration on the sideline. Vibes have been low, according to sources.”
Tony Jones, Sam Amick and Zach Powell of The Athletic reported that “league sources said there had been significant frustration within the locker room at how the Nuggets were playing, particularly defensively. The Nuggets were just 20th in defensive rating. Jokić has been frustrated with the team’s defensive commitment and performance this season.”
The Athletic also noted that Malone and Booth “had been at odds over everything from roster construction to the way players were used, creating tension that started to bleed into the rest of the organization. Booth wanted Malone to use younger players that he drafted and to stray away from using veterans for so many minutes. … On a macro level, Booth and Malone disagreed on several things.”
So Jokić likely sensed that a tipping point was nearing, though like most folks around the NBA, probably assumed it was coming after the season. Firing a head coach with Malone’s pedigree, in the final week of the regular season, is borderline unprecedented.
But it’s been an NBA season of shocking decisions, from the Luka Dončić trade to the Memphis Grizzlies firing head coach Taylor Jenkins just two weeks ago. Normally the NBA offseason is where the sparks fly, but the league got a head start on the fireworks a bit earlier this year.
