Michael Malone is out. The coach who brought Denver its first NBA title and led the franchise through a decade of growth was fired just days before the playoffs. But that was only part of the jolt. This season wasn’t supposed to feel this fragile.

The warning signs had been flashing for weeks. A four-game losing streak. Sluggish rotations. A defense that went from elite to exposed. There was no spark, no bite. Nikola Jokic kept trying to drag the team forward. After one loss, he summed it up quietly: “I don’t know. Maybe we just… I don’t know, actually.” Enter Josh Kroenke.

With the postseason looming, the Nuggets’ President met the team behind closed doors. No big speech. No playbook. Just two words, delivered through interim coach David Adelman: “Be better.”

Two words that feel more like a deflection than a directive. After a decade of stability and a championship banner, firing Malone was a big move. And in the aftermath, a vague mandate doesn’t answer the real question: Better at what? Defense? Accountability? Effort? All of it? Because right now, the gap isn’t just tactical — it’s cultural.

That’s the issue. The Nuggets didn’t need a slogan. They needed honesty. What’s broken? What has to change? Kroenke’s message skipped over the uncomfortable truths: that defensive effort had tanked, film study was being ignored, and the locker room had stopped buying in.

Michael Malone had said as much. After a loss to Portland, he vented: “Guys full of s— won’t care… no one watches film.” Raw. Maybe too raw. But it echoed what everyone already sensed.

The Nuggets are set to play the Sacramento Kings tonight. This game will mark David Adelman’s first as interim head coach. All eyes will be on how the team responds. Ahead of the game, Adelman set a measured tone: “Everyone plays a role,” he said, adding that blame shouldn’t fall on those no longer with the team. Instead, he called for focus, responsibility, and a reset—together. But now comes the hard part.

David Adelman Steps In. But Is He the Fix This Team Needs?

Let’s not forget — this is David Adelman’s first head coaching gig. Ever. And yet he now finds himself helming a defending champ in playoff mode.

Adelman has been on Denver’s bench since 2017. He knows the system. He knows the players. He’s the son of legendary coach Rick Adelman and has earned respect behind the scenes. But the jump from respected assistant to trusted leader? That’s a leap few get to make at this stage of the season.

His first message to the team was telling. “To see guys succeed and get better, it’s why you do this,” he said. A softer tone than Michael Malone’s brutal honesty, perhaps exactly what a weary locker room needs right now.

This shift could play well with players like Jokic, who’s long been quiet about internal matters but recently seemed frustrated. However, closer to home, there’s still a sense of unease. Some players reportedly felt caught off guard by the timing.

Fan reactions echoed that instability. One viral post on X read: “What an embarrassment. Nikola Jokic deserves better than whatever that franchise has done since winning the title.” Others weren’t optimistic either: “Hopefully Jokic is the next to leave. Incompetency in Denver right in the heart of the prime of one of the best players of all-time.”

League sources confirm Jokic was consulted before the move but didn’t push for Malone to be fired. That matters. Jokic likely didn’t want this. But he might understand it. What matters now is trust. Does Adelman have the room? Does he have time to gain it?

With just three games left in the regular season, every possession counts. And in a jammed Western Conference where Denver could face the Lakers, Mavs, or Timberwolves in round one, there’s zero margin for error. The Nuggets didn’t just remove a coach. They reset their identity — or at least, they’re trying to.

Kroenke’s “Be better” isn’t just a motivational slogan. It’s a demand. And now, the pressure is on a rookie head coach to lead a fragile contender through the NBA’s biggest stage. Denver wanted a spark. Time will tell if they lit a fire or burned the house down.