Some excerpts:
The strained relationship between Booth and Malone, who had been at odds for most of their previous five years together, was making matters even worse for everyone underneath them. Jokić’s brilliance had been dimmed by these dynamics for far too long, with some of his most magnificent performances coming during this recent stretch of misery in which the team lost 13 of 23 games.
So Booth, according to league and team sources, told people close to him that it was time for Malone to go. This wasn’t the first time Booth had felt this way, either, as team sources say Booth considered firing Malone heading into the 2023 championship run.
Even with the friction that had festered more than ever this season, this was an extraordinary stance to take. The Nuggets were two years removed from the franchise’s first title, and two years away from the end of Malone’s contract that, per league sources, averaged more than $10 million annually.
Still, Booth, the 48-year-old former NBA player who had nearly secured a contract extension of his own months before, had concluded that a coaching change was the most logical solution. But there was a serious problem with his plan: Booth, in the last year of his deal and well aware that his Nuggets future was now in peril without that extension, no longer had the authority to make that sort of monumental move. He would have to wait it out and see what the postseason ahead might hold — or so he thought.
Just as Booth was deliberating about his dysfunctional dilemma, Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke — the son of owner Stan Kroenke — was secretly finalizing the family’s choice that was years in the making. After all the attempts that had been made to repair this Booth-Malone relationship, including sit-down meetings with Josh Kroenke early this season and a mandate to make it work, he flew in from the top rope on Tuesday.
“The stuff off the court was even worse than the stuff on the court,” one Nuggets source said. “Everyone felt the weight of it.”
The rationale was twofold: In making this move, they would eliminate much of the negativity that team officials had struggled to navigate all season long, an emotional roller coaster that appeared to be bothering Jokić, in particular, more than ever. What’s more, this approach would also give Malone’s replacement, longtime assistant David Adelman, a chance to audition for the job heading into this offseason.
Team sources say David Adelman, whose steadiness and calm demeanor are in stark contrast to Malone’s manner, has a tremendous amount of support from the most important players. And if the Nuggets wanted to get a good look at what Adelman might be able to do before deciding how to proceed on the coaching front, the time was now.
As for the front office, Josh Kroenke has made it clear since Tuesday’s firings that there will be a search for Booth’s replacement. League sources expect there to be discussions about a possible reunion with Tim Connelly, the former Nuggets general manager who drafted Jokić and whose departure to the Minnesota Timberwolves in May 2022 led to Booth’s promotion from his assistant general manager role.
While Connelly has an opt-out in his contract for this summer, it’s widely believed that Timberwolves owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore will do what it takes to retain him. League sources say Connelly’s right-hand man in Minnesota, general manager Matt Lloyd, is expected to receive consideration for the Nuggets job as well.
If only Booth and Malone had found a way to make it work, none of this would be necessary. Instead, with the Kroenkes opting for the preemptive detox approach, this rift that caused so much organizational wreckage is finally behind them.
When Connelly hired Malone in June 2015 — six months after his surprising firing by the Sacramento Kings — it didn’t take long for their Nuggets co-workers to see how well they clicked. Malone’s intensity is legendary in league circles, which can inspire or demoralize his team depending on the day. But Connelly, who had come from the New Orleans Pelicans front office to replace Masai Ujiri as the Nuggets’ top executive two years before, had a calm and inclusive style that served as the perfect balance. The collaborative nature of their pairing, team sources say, was a key factor in why it worked so well.
Yet when Connelly left for Minnesota, with Booth the natural replacement after his three previous years in the front office, everything changed. Booth had strong views about how to turn this perennially good team into a great one and was more inclined to follow his instincts rather than lean on Malone to the same degree. Malone, who was clear-eyed about his visions for the roster, suddenly found himself with less of a voice on personnel matters than before. Much to Malone’s chagrin, the decision-making process was indisputably different.
Those difficult dynamics were more manageable in recent years, never more so than the 2023 title run in which two of Booth’s best moves — the trade that brought Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from Washington in July 2022 and the drafting of guard Christian Braun in that same summer — played a pivotal part in the franchise winning its first championship.
Booth’s roster construction philosophy differed significantly from Connelly’s as time progressed. Connelly put skilled and cerebral players around Jokić and Jamal Murray, with the occasional defensive stopper. And that proved successful. Denver’s run to the 2020 Western Conference finals was predicated on skill and toughness.
However, Booth wanted length and athleticism around his two stars. He sought to put his stamp on the roster, which led to Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green becoming important pieces on the 2023 title team. He then sought to merge two timelines, with the idea of maximizing the championship window around Jokić.
And that’s how the relationship between Booth and Malone truly soured. Booth wanted Malone to play the younger guys that he drafted, as he believed he had rotation-worthy pieces, particularly in Jalen Pickett and Peyton Watson. Booth wanted Malone to expand his rotation, especially in 2024, when Denver was defending its title. But Malone is a coach who latches on to players whom he trusts, especially when winning is at stake, which is not all that different from many coaches.
On some levels, Booth and Malone blamed each other for Denver’s second-round playoff demise in 2024, when the Nuggets physically tired in the second half of Game 7 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Booth thought Malone should have used more players during the regular season, which could have led to a fresher team. Malone thought Booth could have given him a stronger roster with which to work.
It didn’t help that some of Booth’s moves on the margins since the championship season didn’t work out. Arguably, the biggest mistake was giving Zeke Nnaji a four-year contract, and he’s currently not in Denver’s rotation. Booth signed Dario Šarić last offseason, and he quickly fell out of favor with Malone after starting the season as Jokić’s primary backup. Even with Booth’s success, those moves worsened an already strained relationship between the coach and general manager.
Denver’s vibe was off, something the Nuggets talked about extensively when addressing the firings on Wednesday night. Things change on the floor plenty. But the locker room wasn’t solid. And because of that, it was clear that changes needed to be made.
When it came to Malone and his level of support in the locker room, team and league sources say the bottom started to fall out in mid-March. The home loss against Washington was a new low, with the tanking Wizards scoring at will in a 126-123 win that left Jokić fuming afterward. The defense, which was eighth in the league last season and top 16 in each of the previous six seasons, had fallen to 22nd at that time (it’s currently 21st).
At the time, league sources say, rival teams began to hear that Jokić’s patience was wearing thin with the sad state of affairs.
It got even worse six days later, when a 128-109 loss at Portland sparked a postgame news conference from Malone in which he held nothing back on his players.
“My job is to be honest, and sometimes brutally honest,” Malone said. “And tonight, it was a brutally honest message (after the game). And the guys who are full of s— won’t hear it. They’ll say, ‘Coach is trippin’.’
“They’re not going to go back and watch their minutes, because nobody watches their minutes. Nobody watches film. So, we’ll have to show them the film. And I said, ‘If somebody disagrees with me, please speak up.’ Nobody said a word.”
All the while, Malone’s choice to continue supporting Westbrook, despite the frustration he was causing on and off the floor, led to a loss of credibility among the team’s key players. It was one thing when Malone handled Jokić and Murray with more leniency than the rest of their group, but affording Westbrook that sort of treatment, even with his Hall of Fame credentials, wasn’t received well by some.
That dynamic intensified recently, starting with Westbrook’s meltdown against Minnesota on April 1 in which his late-game blunders cost Denver the win and spoiled Jokić’s 60-point triple-double. After a brutal Jokić turnover late in a loss to Indiana on Sunday, when he and Westbrook miscommunicated up top and the big man’s pass flew out of bounds, Malone defended his veteran point guard in a way that was seen by some as a shot at the team’s young talents.
By the time they fell at Golden State on April 4 — an eighth loss in 12 games — Jokić’s angst was there for all the world to see during an early fourth-quarter moment that was captured by the cameras.
On Wednesday night, a resolute Adelman took the podium for the first time as Denver’s interim head coach. He was steely-faced, but ready. He was in the same city where his father had become a local legend two decades ago as coach of the Chris Webber-led Kings. When father and son talked on the phone Wednesday afternoon, the message was to embrace the moment for what it was.
“The bottom line is that we have to stay unified,” David Adelman said. “It’s been a moment. You have to deal with it. For all of us moving to different roles, we have to remember that we are in the mix here. We still have a chance to do something special.”
Throughout Tuesday afternoon, into the night and Wednesday morning, that was the message from the Nuggets organization to their players. The season isn’t over. The chance to accomplish something significant is at hand, especially with Murray, according to team sources, likely to return from his six-game absence (hamstring injury) on Friday at Memphis.
While the 28-year-old started slow this season after signing a four-year, $208 million max extension last summer, he had returned to peak form in mid-December en route to averaging a career-high 21.6 points per game (along with 6.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds). For all of the spotty play, the Nuggets (48-32) as of Thursday morning are still in the fourth spot in the Western Conference, which would yield home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
But as they all know, it’s on the players, more than anyone else, to turn this around. Adelman, in addressing his team, made it clear that the vibe needed to change, for the better, and that the effort on the floor needed to increase.
The Nuggets indeed played with an urgency and energy not always seen throughout the season. Adelman’s rotations weren’t all that different from Malone’s, but there were some tweaks. There was more rest for Jokić at the start of the second quarter. Jokić had less overall usage when he was on the floor. When Westbrook had a mini-meltdown early in the second quarter and again in the fourth quarter, Adelman quickly subbed him out for Pickett.
The players know they are now in the crosshairs of criticism. Their coach has been fired. Their general manager has been fired. It’s largely on them to make something of whatever is remaining of the season.
“In my country, if someone gets fired, probably you’re next,” Jokić said, meaning the players. “I think it definitely changed something.”
As Jokić shared after the win over the Kings, he spoke with Josh Kroenke about the Booth-Malone decision before it was revealed publicly.
“I’m not gonna say what Josh told me,” Jokić said. “(But) I mean, I knew a little bit before everybody, and he … told me, ‘We made a decision.’ So it was not a discussion. It was (their) decision. And, you know … he told me why (it was done). And so I listen and I accept it.”
In the win over the Kings, the Nuggets looked more attentive, more connected with each other on the floor and the bench, and played with a sense of intent that hasn’t been seen in previous games.
It isn’t a cure-all for what this group has been through this week, but it was an important victory. And coupled with the Golden State unexpectedly losing at home to the San Antonio Spurs, it was a victory that put the Nuggets one step closer to clinching a top-six spot in the Western Conference and avoiding the Play-In Tournament.
Denver’s locker room after the game was mostly quiet. The very top of the Nuggets’ brain trust, Kroenke included, milled around. Adelman accepted sporadic handshakes for his first win in his new role. But there was a sense of relief for getting the first game without Malone out of the way.
The positive vibes, which had been lacking for so much of the season, were back.
Pseudoscience is always going to attract people who want to feel like they know more than others without putting in a lot of work on studying things.
Terrance Howard also believes 1x1=2 so wouldn’t put a ton of stock into his other theories but haven’t heard of this one specifically. Like the other commentator said if he at some point shows concrete evidence I’m happy to admit I’m wrong but he hasn’t had that for his other stuff so I’m doubtful.