The winningest head coach in Denver Nuggets history, Michael Malone, has a new full-time job in basketball. He’ll join ESPN’s NBA Countdown this season.
The news comes straight from ESPN Chairman Jimmy Piaro in a discussion with Front Office Sports.
Malone joined the team for the Western Conference Finals last spring, commenting on the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder. It was somewhat shocking to see his face on TV and not on the sidelines, considering he was shockingly fired just 17 games before by the Nuggets.
It came as Malone and GM Calvin Booth feuded, something boss Josh Kroenke has taken the blame for. The two fought about many things, from roster construction to playing time and more, and it resulted in a stilted locker room that was brought together by their firing and David Adelman taking over. It was a nasty ending to the best coaching tenure in Nuggets history, resulting in the most wins and their lone championship.
It’s all this experience with the Nuggets, coaching Nikola Jokic against and earlier on the same sideline for LeBron James, that makes Malone such a good voice for insight on the NBA. And of course, as we know in Denver, he’s not afraid to voice his thoughts. We saw a bit of this even on TV in the spring when his of Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seemed like a slight toward Jokic, though Malone denied that later.
Malone’s new team will likely consist of Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers and Kendrick Perkins. Chiney Ogwumike, Richard Jefferson, Brian Windhorst and Tim Legler are also regulars. It’s not clear how often and where Malone will speak, given the new NBA TV deal going into place this fall and the relocation of Inside the NBA to ESPN.
Either way, it’s not surprising Malone didn’t go back to coaching this summer, even with his hometown Knicks job opening up. His big $25 million buyout from Denver likely kept him from taking another coaching job since a coaching job would’ve eaten into that, whereas a TV job probably won’t.
The Nuggets have moved on, sticking with Malone’s lead assistant for 2025-26, Adelman — a man who is in many ways opposite to Malone.
