Denver Nuggets billionaire owner Josh Kroenke gets brutally honest on Michael Malone sacking: "A necessary step to compete right now"

On Tuesday, the Denver Nuggets parted ways with Michael Malone ahead of the 2024-25 NBA playoffs. While to some fans, the move was a surprise, others believe the writing has been on the wall given Denver's 3-7 slump over the past few weeks.

In response to Shams Charania's report, Nuggets owner and heir to the Kroenke Sports & Entertainment empire, Josh Kroenke, whose net worth is estimated at $1.5 billion on Celebznetworth, shared a statement on the team's decision to part ways with Malone.

NBA insider Chris Haynes relayed Kroenke's statement on X:

“While the timing of this decision is unfortunate, as Coach Malone helped build the foundation of our now championship level program, it is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now.

Championship level standards and expectations remain in place for the current season, and as we look to the future, we look forward to building on the foundations laid by Coach Malone over his record-breaking 10-year career in Denver.”

Throughout his career with Denver, Malone amassed a 510-394 record in the regular season. In the postseason, Malone coached the Nuggets to a 44-36 record and led the team to an NBA championship in 2023.

Looking back at Michael Malone's post-game comments following Denver's loss to Indiana on Sunday, where the coach stressed the importance of health and defense for the Nuggets

While Michael Malone is the winningest coach in franchise history, the Denver Nuggets have struggled to find their rhythm as of late.

Over their last 10 games, where they've posted a 3-7 record, the team has shot 50.7%, the fourth-best of any team in the league. However, Denver was just 34.5% from downtown, which is in the bottom 10 for 3-point percentage over that period.

While speaking with members of the press post-game at Ball Arena after Sunday's 125-120 loss to the Pacers, Malone explained that the two most important things going forward for the team are health and defense.

The team has notably been without Jamal Murray since late March, and according to Malone, although there's optimism surrounding his return, there's no guarantee Murray will return in time for the start of the playoffs.

"I don't think we've started the same lineup two games in a row in the last 15 games, so health, obviously Jamal Murray is such an important part to this team, and we still have enough to win when Jamal's out but I like our chances a hell of a lot better when Jamal's healthy," Malone said.

"So aside from health, obviously, the defense, ... that's been the most disappointing part of this year is just the huge drop-off."

As Malone explained, the team has fallen to 21st in the NBA's defensive efficiency rating over the last 10 games. Similarly, the team's offensive efficiency rating plummeted to 17th in the league during that time.

With just three games left in the regular season, it will be interesting to see whether newly-appointed interim coach David Adelman can turn things around for the team in time for a postseason run.