{"id":133779,"date":"2025-04-12T13:01:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T17:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=133779"},"modified":"2025-04-12T13:03:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T17:03:50","slug":"an-unfitting-end-for-michael-malone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/12\/an-unfitting-end-for-michael-malone\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unfitting End for the Greatest Coach in Nuggets History"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA was left stunned when ahead of the postseason, the Nuggets announced the dismissal of head coach Michael Malone<\/a>. In a season marked by dramatic headlines, most notably the shocking trade of Luka Doncic<\/a>, Malone\u2019s firing may be the most unexpected development. This is the coach who delivered the first championship in franchise history. He was supported by ownership through years of doubt and criticism, especially in the 2017-18 season, where this young up-and-coming roster dramatically missed the playoffs after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the last game of the season. Many fans wanted a change at the head coaching position, but the Kroenkes held firm and stuck by Malone, convinced that he was the right man to lead them to the promised land. Malone delivered and then some.<\/p>\n

An Unfitting End for the Greatest Coach in Nuggets History<\/h2>\n

Michael Malone Fired Despite His Success<\/h3>\n

While coaching is often underappreciated\u2014especially in a league where success is attributed solely to stars\u2014Malone\u2019s influence was undeniable. He didn\u2019t just manage the talented players he was given; he built a revolutionary system around them, allowing this core of players to flourish in ways that could not have been replicated under most other coaches. Under his guidance, Denver developed an offense unlike anything seen before in the NBA. It was a system that gave unprecedented control of the game to a center, defying decades of basketball tradition.<\/p>\n

Nikola Joki\u0107\u2019s<\/a> unique skill set made such a system possible, but it took a visionary like Malone to fully unlock it. For those who believe any coach could build around Joki\u0107, his early struggles with team Serbia prove that is not true. Despite having an MVP on the roster, Serbia’s offense ran through Bogdan Bogdanovi\u0107<\/a>. It highlights just how innovative and difficult to replicate Malone’s approach truly was.<\/p>\n

Mixing a Modern Basketball Philosophy with Old School Mentality<\/h3>\n

In the 1990s, the idea of a center dominating the ball, orchestrating offense, and initiating transitions would have been unimaginable. Malone and Jokic shattered that convention, proving that the traditional role of the big man could be redefined entirely.<\/p>\n

His legacy in Denver will be forever tied to the beautiful, team-oriented style of play the Nuggets have come to embody\u2014one that will remain as long as Joki\u0107 wears a Nuggets uniform. Yet beneath this modern basketball philosophy lies an old-school, no-nonsense coaching approach. He held his players accountable, demanding not just empty calorie scoring, which in the end amounts to nothing. If you wanted to play under this coach, you had to do the dirty work, especially defensively.\u00a0 Jamal Murray<\/a>, Michael Porter Jr<\/a>., and even Jokic didn\u2019t get free passes when they started their careers with the Nuggets. They had to earn their minutes by embracing a basketball culture that leads to winning. If you are a guard, get ready to set picks against 7-footers, leading to those lethal inverted pick-and-rolls.<\/p>\n

Even still, Malone’s tenure was not without controversy. Critics often lamented his defensive schemes, particularly his insistence on keeping Joki\u0107 high in pick-and-roll coverage. Many fans, this writer, thought this system cost the 2017-18 Nuggets a playoff appearance. Who could blame them? In a league where most teams either switch everything or play with a drop-back center, this approach confused many. Yet this system was tailored to Joki\u0107\u2019s strengths: quick hands, sharp anticipation, and excellent rebounding ability even while being in disadvantageous positions under the basket, while also minimizing his limitations as a rim protector. Despite the skepticism, Malone stood by his methods and ultimately delivered the results, allowing him to develop a championship-caliber team.<\/p>\n

Nuggets Ownership Made a Gigantic Gamble<\/h3>\n

All of this makes his dismissal ahead of the 2025 postseason all the more difficult to process. This regular season was certainly underwhelming by Denver\u2019s standards. The team often lacked energy and failed to meet expectations, even when considering the numerous amount of injuries they were dealing with. But the question remains: Were those performances signs of a team tuning out its coach, or simply a veteran group pacing itself for another deep playoff run? Unfortunately, that question will now go unanswered.<\/p>\n

Whether this decision proves wise or disastrous, it marks a pivotal moment in the franchise’s history. Should the Nuggets thrive in the postseason, ownership\u2019s gamble will be vindicated. If not, this could trigger the most challenging offseason Denver has faced<\/a> in decades.<\/p>\n

One truth, however, will remain unchanged: any future success this franchise enjoys is built upon the foundation that Malone laid. His impact goes far beyond wins and losses. He changed the identity of the Denver Nuggets and helped redefine what modern basketball can look like, and for that, he will always be appreciated by Nuggets supporters, basketball fans, and this writer.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NBA was left stunned when ahead of the postseason, the Nuggets announced the dismissal of head coach Michael Malone. In a season marked by dramatic headlines, most notably the shocking trade of Luka Doncic, Malone\u2019s firing may be the most unexpected development. This is the coach who delivered the first championship in franchise history. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5490,"featured_media":133889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1608,62],"tags":[109,1230,1223,72],"class_list":["post-133779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuggets","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-jamal-murray","tag-michael-malone","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133779"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133890,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133779\/revisions\/133890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}