Mike Malone's fate was obvious if Nuggets fans had paid attention

All the signs were there with former Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone. They were not subtle either. When Malone called out his players for not willingly watching and no longer listening to him, that should have been the indication that his tenure would soon be done. Little did anyone know that would happen much sooner than later. The Nuggets relieved Malone (and former GM Calvin Booth) of his duties on Tuesday, just days before the postseason.

Mike Malone knew he had lost the locker room

Malone had obviously grown frustrated with his team. But we know the NBA is a players league. Anytime there’s an issue between players and coaches, the former usually wins that battle in the Association. As an old-school coach, Malone is a little too real for this generation of players who feel they are too “good” for criticism in large part.

The reported disagreement in philosophy and who played between Malone and Booth didn’t help either. It’s been reported that Booth want more of the young players he’d drafted to get more minutes while Malone was hell bent on sticking to his rotation of veteran’s. That squabble and not being able to come to some agreement got them both kicked to the curb.

Looking back, you could see in Malone’s body language even on the sideline that he was likely burnt out on this team. Malone arrived in 2015 and by today’s standard that is an extremely long run with one franchise for a head coach. Getting rid of him right before the playoffs is odd seeing how the Nuggets are locked in a fight for a top six seed.

But the writing was on the wall, no matter how you slice it. He had a great run in the Mile High City and helped bring the city its first NBA Championship. As good as this Nuggets team was two years ago in winning that title, they’ve underachieved since then. So, it seems like it was time and ownership didn’t want to waste any more time dragging out the inevitable.