In more normal times the idea of a coach of a playoff-bound team would be an anathema. But these are not normal times, as you may have noticed with the way the rest of the world is going.
For the second time in 11 days, and for the third time this season, the coach of an NBA team that at least on paper looked like an achiever was relieved of his duties. In this case, considering the one involved had won a title less than two years ago, and was only part of the massacre, was particularly shocking.
NEWSWEEK’s Seth Quinn attempted to convey the magnitude of the decision and reaction:
The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth on Tuesday. It left the entire league and its fans in shock, with many people having strong reactions. Specifically, other top head coaches reacted to one of their colleagues being let go, and one that was well-respected around the league.
The team that just beat the Nuggets two days ago was the Indiana Pacers, so in a somewhat joking manner, one could say they ended Malone’s tenure in Denver.
Head coach Rick Carlisle weighed in on the firing, which he had a similar reaction to for similarly shocking firings with Taylor Jenkins being relieved by the Memphis Grizzlies and Mike Brown being fired by the Sacramento Kings.
“If anyone would’ve told me any of these guys would’ve been fired midseason, I would’ve been shocked. … It’s disappointing, it’s kinda numbing to be honest.
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau also reacted to the news during a Knicks press conference leading up to their game with the Boston Celtics. “Just disappointment – it’s the unfortunate part of the business. I’ve known Michael for decades. Unbelievable family, great coach,” he said. His opponent… Joe Mazzula, gave his own reaction to the firing in a classic Mazzula way. “I wake up every day saying this is going to be my last day. You have to have that type of perspective because it gives you gratitude (and) it also keeps you hungry. So you just have to have a healthy balance of you want this for as long as you can. At the same time, you’re replaceable because that’s just how it works.”
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s Eva Geitheim tried to classify Malone’s departure as having some unique qualities attached to it that warranted such dramatic timing:
Vice chairman of the Nuggets ownership group, Josh Kroenke, said the decision was made to give Denver the “best chance” to compete for a championship this year. Nuggets reporter Vic Lombardi said Kroenke referred to his team as “joyless” over the last few games, and wants to see them “play hard and have fun.” Since the firings, reports have emerged that Malone and Booth did not like each other, and that their disagreements were well known around the NBA. According to The Athletic, among those differences was that Booth wanted Malone to use the younger players he drafted more often and to use the veterans for fewer minutes. Booth was reportedly “dismayed” that in multiple games last week, Malone opted to play Russell Westbrook over Jalen Pickett late in games.
But as NEWSWEEK’s Matt Levine reported last week in the wake of Jenkins’ firing, the narrative attached to that move, with a whopping nine games left in the regular season, was eerily similar:
This morning, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman offered more details about why the team let Jenkins go. Kleiman spoke candidly and said that the decision was his alone.
“I came to the conclusion that this is in the best interest of the team and urgency is a core principle of ours, so I decided to go on with the move.”
And it’s not all that dissimilar to the attempted logic conveyed when Brown was let go between Christmas and New Year’s, as THE SPORTING NEWS’ Morgan Moriarty reported at the time:
Although it’s early in the season, the Kings’ disastrous start to the 2024-25 season left ownership searching for answers, especially of late. Sacramento started out the season consistently staying above -.500 until mid-November. The Kings fell to 9-12 on Dec. 1, and lost six out of their last 10 games. Currently, Sacramento is 13-18 and 12th in the Western Conference. According to various reports, Sacramento’s home record may be a big reason.
And an eviscerating X-eet from Sacramento sports radio provocateur Dave Carmichael pretty much confirms themL
Say what you want about Vivek, he just ate 30 plus million to try and right the ship. Mike Brown may in fact be the unnecessary scapegoat, but you don’t lose games like that at home with these expectations and survive. You knew it was coming, and you pretty much knew if they lost to Detroit SOMETHING would happen.
The pattern is consistent. Go on an ill-timed losing streak and piss off someone paying your freight, and it’s as if your resume is now being seen as printed on toilet paper.
But for any Nuggets fan hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, based on the track record of these most recent firings the likelihood of Malone (and Booth) exiting stage left (or right even) being significantly impactful is at best modest.
Since Jenkins was replaced by Tuomas Iisalo, they’re 3-3 and they lost those three immediately upon Iisalo’s anointing. And over a larger period of time, the Kings are an only slightly better 26-22, though they have at least snuck into the play-in tournament as a road team.
Given how bunched up the upper portion of the Western Conference is this morning–the Nuggets in a four-way tie for fourth with Golden State, the Clippers and–yep–Memphis, with Minnesota a mere game behind–and the swing between those positions being as significant as one home game in a play-in tournament and potentially four home games in a first round playoff series, it’s a crapshoot where this particular sich ends up. But let’s just say that the evidence for this all working out isn’t compelling.
And with the likes of Michael Malone now unexpectedly out there in the free agent pool, if I’m Thibedeau or even Mazzula I’d be treading particularly gingerly around my bosses this week.
I guess if one is seeking true job security, one should look for something like civil service. Oh, wait…
Courage…