Josh Kroenke releases statements on firing Michael Malone and Calvin Booth
Apr 8, 2025, 12:46 PM | Updated: 4:19 pm
The Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA world on Tuesday when owner Josh Kroenke fired head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth.
The timing is crazy, given that the Nuggets have just three regular season games left before competing in either a playoff series or the NBA play-in tournament.
Of course, fans want to know why this happened, and what was Kroenke’s thinking behind it. He released statements on both firings through the team, and they are below.
On firing Malone:
It is with no pleasure that we announce that we have relieved Michael Malone of his head coaching duties, effective immediately. David Adelman will assume our head coaching role for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
This decision was not made lightly and was evaluated very carefully, and we do it only with the intention of giving our group the best chance at competing for the 2025 NBA Championship and delivering another title to Denver and our fans everywhere.
While the timing of this decision is unfortunate, as Coach Malone helped build the foundation of our now championship-level program, it is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now. Championship-level standards and expectations remain in place for the current season, and as we look to the future, we look forward to building on the foundations laid by Coach Malone over his record-breaking 10-year career in Denver.
There is no amount of gratitude that we can properly convey for his contributions since he joined our franchise in 2015. It is with our utmost respect that we would like to thank Coach Malone for the most successful decade in Nuggets history, setting the all-time wins record and helping deliver Denver our first championship.
On firing Booth:
I want to thank Calvin Booth for leading our front office for the past three years and, most importantly, for helping put the final pieces in place for the roster that delivered Denver and our fans their first NBA Championship. Calvin’s knowledge of the game, his passion for scouting, and his long history as a player and executive in the NBA helped lift our organization to new heights, which we will continue moving forward. We are grateful to Calvin for his eight years with the Nuggets and know his place in Nuggets history as our first championship-winning GM will be honored for years to come.
It is clear that Josh Kroenke didn’t take either of these decisions lightly. He’s very appreciative of Malone and Booth helping the Nuggets win their first ever title in 2023.
He also still thinks this Denver team is good enough to win a championship this season. When you have Nikola Jokic, that’s always a possibility, but the Nuggets have lost four games in a row and the vibes are not good around them right now.
This appears to be a Hail Mary, but crazier things have happened. We’ll see if this is the catalyst to something special, or the beginning of the end of a championship window.
