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The Denver Nuggets coaching staff deserves a ton of credit for the team’s performance in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Up against Erik Spoelstra, who is considered by many to be the best in the league, Denver’s bench tacticians have proven to be excellent.
The staff starts with Mike Malone, who was named the head coach on June 15, 2015. Denver missed the playoffs in Malone’s first three seasons before making it into the postseason the last five years.
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The leader of the Denver Nuggets coaching staff has a 406-337 record since joining the Mile High City squad. Before this season’s NBA Finals appearance, he also led the Nuggets to the 2020 Western Conference title round against the LA Lakers.
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Mike Malone’s coaching career began with the New York Knicks. He worked with the team’s personnel and video coordinating department before he was promoted to assistant coach.
From New York, he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-2010, helping LeBron James’ team make the playoffs every time. Cleveland reached the NBA Finals in 2007 under Mike Brown but was swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
After the Cleveland job, he went to the Charlotte Hornets for one season (2010-2011) before signing with the Golden State Warriors (2011-2013).
Mike Malone’s first head-coaching job was in 2013 with the Sacramento Kings. He was fired on December 15, 2014, after the Kings struggled to an 11-13 start.
Malone replaced Melvin Hunt and became the head of the Denver Nuggets’ coaching staff in 2015.
The Denver Nuggets coaching staff behind Mike Malone
David Adelman
David Adelman is the lead assistant in the Denver Nuggets’ coaching staff. He joined the team starting the 2018-19 season. Adelman started coaching in 2011 under his father, Rick Adelman, as a player development coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Adelman stayed there until 2015 even though his father retired in 2014. He went to the Orlando Magic during the 2016-17 season before agreeing to become one of Mike Malone’s assistants.
Ryan Saunders
Like David Adelman, Ryan Saunders is the son of another long-time NBA coach, the late Flip Saunders. The young Saunders entered the coaching world via the Washington Wizards from 2009 to 2014. He was hired by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the summer of 2014 and stayed there until 2021.
One of the members of the Denver Nuggets coaching staff was named interim head coach by the Wolves after the firing of Tom Thibodeau in 2019. On May 20 of the same year, Minnesota signed him to a multiple-year contract as the new head bench tactician.
On February 21, 2021, he was fired by the Timberwolves after a 7-24 mark. The following year, he became one of Mike Malone’s top assistants in Denver.
Popeye Jones
Popeye Jones played in the NBA for 11 seasons under seven different teams. He retired in 2004 after a season with the Golden State Warriors.
Jones started as a player development coach for the Dallas Mavericks from 2008 until 2010. The Brooklyn Nets hired him as an assistant coach from 2010-2013. The former NBA journeyman had stops in Indiana and Philadelphia before becoming one of the members of the Denver Nuggets coaching staff in 2021.
Ryan Bowen
Ryan Bowen had a short NBA career. He played for the New Orleans Hornets (2007-09) and the OKC Thunder in 2009. The Denver Nuggets hired him as an assistant coach from 2011-2013 before the Sacramento Kings made him the assistant director of player development.
Bowen stayed in Sacramento until 2015. He returned to the Denver Nuggets’ coaching staff when Mike Malone was named the head coach.
John Beckett
John Beckett began his coaching career in Denver as the director of player development in 2016. Before his stay with the Nuggets, he spent nine years with the Atlanta Hawks as a video coordinator and player development guru.
Beckett also had a chance to work with NBA on TNT for some time as an analyst.
Charles Klask
Charles Klask is also one of the most important members of the Denver Nuggets coaching staff. He has extensive experience as a video coordinator with the Orlando Magic (2002-2011). From Orlando, he took his talents to Motor City and became an assistant coach for the Pistons.
Klask also had a stint with the Brooklyn Nets (2013-14) before he became an important part of the Denver Nuggets coaching staff.
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