Nuggets’ Firing of Michael Malone Highlights NBA’s Harsh Reality for Championship Coaches

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The news dropped from seemingly out of nowhere before lunchtime in Denver with less than a week remaining in the regular season. The Nuggets have three games left on their regular-season schedule and will now face the postseason without their leader who’s been with the team for 10 seasons and presided over the most successful era in franchise history.

It’s an era that produced six consecutive playoff appearances and the franchise’s only NBA championship in 2023, just two seasons ago. But it wasn’t good enough to earn Malone job security.

While shocking on the surface, Malone’s dismissal is not without precedent. In fact, it fits the NBA trend. Of the last seven coaches to win an NBA championship, five have now been fired by the teams they led to titles within less than five seasons.

Joe Mazulla remains employed by the Boston Celtics, who just won their title last season. Steve Kerr is a fixture with the Golden State Warriors after leading the franchise to four NBA championships since 2015. And that’s it.

If you’re not the leader of a dynasty, the message for head coaches in the NBA is clear, even for those with recent championships on their résumés: It’s best to consider yourself expendable.

That was the message for Tyronn Lue, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel, Mike Budenholzer and, now, Malone. The Cavaliers fired Lue six games into the 2018 season, two-plus seasons removed from coaching Cleveland to its first NBA title. The Raptors fired Nurse in 2023, four seasons after he led Toronto to its only championship.