Denver Nuggets Players Had Lost Faith Over Michael Malone's Preferential Treatment Towards Russell Westbrook

The Denver Nuggets front office surprised everyone with their sudden firing of Coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth. Many view this as an erratic decision, given both Malone and Booth were crucial in leading the Nuggets to their recent successes. Malone had coached the Nuggets for over ten seasons, taking the team to the playoffs seven times with his lead. In fact, it was Malone's coaching that led the Nuggets to win their first championship in franchise history in 2023.

With all such flowers and flurry, why such a sudden decision to get rid of a winning coach? Well, the stories inside the locker room could perhaps give a different picture otherwise. As per league sources such as The Athletic, many believe that players had started losing faith in Coach Michael Malone. The reason for the same is quite surprising: Malone's preferential treatment towards Russell Westbrook.

Denver Nuggets players lost faith in Michael Malone over Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook joined the ranks at the Denver Nuggets after a rather moderate season with the Los Angeles Clippers. While at the Clippers, Westbrook had accepted the role of a sixth man, providing energy on the scoring especially during crunch moments of a game. However, Russ isn't the same athletic point guard as he was before, sometimes even reducing his team's +/- rating with him being on the floor.

At Denver, Russ was expected to thrive as a point guard alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. However, as per Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Nuggets players started growing increasingly frustrated with the way Malone was handling Russell Westbrook.

The Athletic report stated, “All the while, Malone's choice to continue supporting Westbrook — despite the frustration he was causing on and off the floor — ultimately led to a loss of credibility among the team's key players.”

It's true that star players get preferential treatment from their franchises sometimes. Jokic and Jamal Murray were shown quite more leniency, given their contributions to the team. Though Russ, as a future Hall of Famer, also deserves the same star treatment, the locker room was rather divided on that matter.

The report also suggests the Nuggets locker room is in ‘a mess’ at the moment on this issue. Many including Jokic and other core players on the roster had started growing tired of Malone's intensive coaching style. However, the Nuggets are now starting to adapt without Malone as they sit fourth on the Western Conference standings. Things have come down to the point where even Nikola Jokic has started drawing plays and coaching the team in Malone's absence!

The Nuggets last played the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night, beating them 124-116 without Coach Malone. The most surprising aspect after the game was when Nikola Jokic himself confirmed he knew of Malone's firing even before the news broke publicly. As of now, Denver have final two regular-season games against the Memphis Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets before the postseason.