Few things qualify as a surprise in a post-Luka-Doncic-traded-to-the-Lakers world.
The Denver Nuggets’ decision to fire head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth is one of them.
Two seasons removed from delivering the franchise’s first NBA championship, Malone was dismissed on Tuesday, along with the executive who took over the year the team reached the mountaintop. Despite owning a 471-327 record in his nine-plus seasons and the most wins in franchise history, Malone became the latest casualty of a league that demands sustained excellence and has little patience for slippage.
Denver had lost 10 of its last 16 games, including four straight — the most recent a 125-120 loss to the Indiana Pacers with playoff seeding at stake. That skid, paired with reported internal frustrations, was enough for the Nuggets to pull the plug on both their coach and GM in a move that sent shockwaves through league circles.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, now the fourth-longest-tenured coach in the NBA behind only Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Steve Kerr, said he was disheartened to see a coaching peer let go — especially one who brought his franchise a title.
“It’s an unfortunate part of the business,” Thibodeau said Tuesday ahead of tipoff against the Boston Celtics. “I’ve known Michael for decades. Unbelievable family, great coach. So you hate to see it — particularly when he’s been there so long.
“I also worked with Calvin Booth — terrific guy. Michael just did a phenomenal job there. It’s really unfortunate.”
Thibodeau’s voice carried the gravity of a veteran who knows all too well how fast things can change in the NBA. Coaches are often the first to go when the win-loss column starts tilting in the wrong direction — even if they’ve already delivered hardware.
“He had a long run there. He won a championship. The record speaks for itself,” Thibodeau continued. “But in this league, things happen. They had a stretch where they were playing as well as anyone in the league. Then they hit injuries. That’s part of it.
“I don’t know all the specifics, but you just hate to see it. Two great people, great families.”
Malone’s dismissal came just days after the Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins and months after the Kings shocked the league by firing Mike Brown two days after Christmas. In a results-driven league that increasingly leans toward immediacy, job security is often an illusion.
“It’s unusual, yeah,” Thibodeau said of the growing list of midseason firings. “But maybe it’s just a byproduct of where we are today with everything. Hopefully, you have people who can remain calm. You win together, you lose together, and you work through things together. That’s the business.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla echoed that sentiment.
“It’s coaching. You sign up knowing that,” Mazzulla said. “He was there 10 years — that’s a long time. You hope to be in a situation with that kind of stability.
“But when it’s your time, it’s your time. That’s just the way it goes.”
Mazzulla added that he approaches each day with a coach’s version of existential urgency.
“I wake up every day saying this could be my last day. That’s probably what motivates me,” he said. “It gives you gratitude and keeps you hungry. You want this job as long as you can, but you’re very much replaceable. Every day, I remind myself of my own mortality. It helps keep things in perspective.”
Perspective, of course, is sometimes no match for the cold math of an underwhelming win streak or a locker room with fraying edges. Malone and Jenkins — both highly respected coaches who led successful programs — are now cautionary tales of how quickly the floor can drop out.
What if these were Mazzulla’s final three games coaching Boston?
“I don’t know,” he said. “You do the best you can for as long as you can.”
