When a team wins a championship, you’d think that buys a head coach a little job security, right? Maybe a few down seasons? A slow Tuesday? Apparently not in Denver. Because just days before the playoffs, the Nuggets pulled off the most shocking move of the year. One minute, Michael Malone was barking on the sidelines; the next, he was out. Fired. Gone.
But if that left you speechless, wait until you hear what Nikola Jokic did next, or rather… what he didn’t do.
Let’s be real—Jokic runs the show in Denver. He’s not just the best player on the team. He is the team. So when news broke that Malone was out, most people assumed it was a mutual decision. Maybe even Nikola Jokic’s idea. However, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, Windhorst said it flat out: “If Jokic had flipped out… of course that wouldn’t have happened.” Think about that. If Jokic had even blinked the wrong way, Malone would probably still bethe head coach today. But instead, when the team owner picked up the phone and told him the decision, Jokic didn’t scream or slam the phone. He just… accepted it. “He told me why,” Jokic said quietly. “So I listened. And I accepted it.”
Jun 15, 2023; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke (left) and president Josh Kroenke (right) during the championship parade after the Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Finals. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
And just like that, the most successful coach in Nuggets history was gone.
Now, you’re probably wondering—why? Why would a team that still has everything to play for, three games remaining in the regular season, burn it all up?
Apparently this was not a last minute, impulsive thing, you see. According to Tim MacMahon, Kroenke wanted to fire Malone at the All-Star break. Yup. That far back. The Nuggets had the audacity to win eight games in a row and screw up the plan. According to Kroenke, “Winning can mask a lot of things.”
Let that sink in. You’re winning too much to fire your coach. What a problem.
The window opened again but only after the team went into a late season slump. This time, however, Kroenke didn’t hesitate. He didn’t ask Jokic. He did not ask the front office. He just did it. To prove he meant business? And he fired GM Calvin Booth, too—the guys who built the 2023 championship team. They are gone. Just like that.
The Jokic-Malone Bond: Ten Years Gone In One Phone Call
This is the harshest part. Malone wasn’t just Jokic’s coach. Jokic had never had a coach in the NBA before. Malone was there for each step, from awkward rookie to MVP to champion. It was a decade-long journey and it was more than player and coach. It wasn’t a thank you, it wasn’t even a press conference… It was a phone call.
Jokic didn’t lose it even then. No angry pressers. No cryptic Instagram posts. He simply texted Malone afterward. That’s it. It is a very quiet message for the man who helped create his entire NBA identity.
However, he felt it. Jokic didn’t go through the motions after the firing. He had paced the huddles, taken over time out talks and played a coach for a change. Even if he never said it out loud, the weight of the moment was all over him.
Now, leading the charge? Assistant coach David Adelman. Calm. Mild-mannered. The total opposite of Malone. And maybe that’s the point.
ESPN sources said the front office believed the team needed a “fresh voice.” Malone’s fiery style had carried them far—but maybe it was starting to burn a little too hot. Maybe, just maybe, Jokic needed someone who wouldn’t try to push him—but someone who would simply trust him.
Mar 28, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) reacts after a head injury in the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Adelman’s promotion could be seen as the ultimate gamble: hand the keys to a guy with no head coaching experience, three games before the playoffs, and hope Jokic keeps driving like nothing happened.
So, was this genius or madness?
Only one man knows for sure—Josh Kroenke. The same man who quietly watched from the sidelines as tension built between Malone and Booth all season. The same man who reportedly grew tired of internal power struggles. And when the time came, he did what Kroenkes do—he cut the cord.
Ramona Shelburne reported on the drama long before the rest of us saw the explosion. Apparently, the feud between Malone and Booth had been brewing for months. The team’s fourth-place standing didn’t matter. Not to Kroenke. Not anymore.
He didn’t want to wait and see if the Nuggets had another playoff run in them. He wanted to force one. He wanted a jolt. A reset. A new voice. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted Jokic to finally lead in a way he never had to before.
In the end, the decision was Kroenke’s. But make no mistake—Jokic is still the gravity holding this team together.
He could’ve stopped this. He didn’t. He could’ve raised hell. He didn’t.
Instead, he’s doing what he always does—leading without noise, pushing forward without complaint. But don’t confuse silence for indifference. Jokic heard every word, felt every shift, and now all eyes are on him to carry this team through the storm.
Because if the Nuggets crash and burn? That’s on Kroenke. But if they rise again—if they find that same fire that brought them the 2023 title—then maybe, just maybe, this wild shake-up won’t go down as sabotage.
It’ll go down as the moment Nikola Jokic became more than a superstar, the one where he becomes a legend.
The post ESPN Reporter Shares Nikola Jokic’s Role as Nuggets Owner’s True Intentions With Michael Malone Finally Unearths appeared first on EssentiallySports.
