Nuggets’ coaching change is the latest in NBA history by a contending team
Apr 9, 2025, 12:06 PM
The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone Tuesday in what was one of the most stunning coaching moves in the history of the NBA. While it would be an entirely different story if they fired the 2023 NBA Champion after the season, the shocking aspect of the move was the timing. With just three games left in the regular season amidst one of the tightest seeding races of all time, the Nuggets now have to regroup and win some games to avoid the Play-In Tournament.
Malone’s firing is tied for the latest by any team in NBA history, and is the latest for a team that is headed to the playoffs.
This is tied for the latest coaching change in NBA history, per ESPN Research, matching Hubie Brown in 1980-81. https://t.co/9MeAjEuAQo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2025
Fewest games left when a coaching change happens for a postseason-bound team:
3 – Denver, 2025
6 – New Jersey, 1983
9 – Memphis, 2025
10 – Brooklyn, 2020— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) April 8, 2025
Were those situations similar to what the Nuggets are currently going through?
The New Jersey Nets were 47-29 and in third place in the Eastern Conference back in 1983 when they fired head coach Larry Brown with just six games left before the postseason. However, there were many rumors in the world that Brown was considering taking the head coaching job with the Kansas Jayhawks. The Nets weren’t messing around with those rumors, and owner Joe Taub confronted him at Newark International Airport, and once Brown confirmed he was leaving, he was fired at the airport.
The Nets finished the season with a 2-4 record and were swept in the first round of the playoffs.
The Grizzlies firing Taylor Jenkins recently was another decision that puzzled a lot of people in the NBA. He was 44-29 and had the Grizzlies in firm control of a postseason berth. There was never an official reason for the decision to fire him, but it was clear that the Grizzlies’ offense was struggling and didn’t have an identity, and a stretch of five losses in seven games before his firing highlighted those struggles.
The team is 3-3 since his firing, and is currently stuck with the Nuggets in the gridlock in the Western Conference.
The 2020 Nets were 28-34 before firing Kenny Atkinson just days before the NBA suspended its season due to the pandemic. The Nets were in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, but management decided that was the right move as some of the players on the team weren’t seeing eye-to-eye with their coach. The team went 7-3 after Atkinson was fired but got swept by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.
Then there’s Malone, who was fired with just three games left in the season after posting a 47-32 record this season.
All of these firings were justified despite taking place so late in the season. For the Grizzlies, after a quick slump while the team regained its focus after Jenkins was fired, the team has won three games in a row to give themselves a shot at avoiding the Play-In. While the Nuggets don’t have enough time to go through growing pains with interim head coach David Adelman, could the late firing give the team a spark similar to the Grizzlies?
