Nuggets president Josh Kroenke considered firing coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth twice this season before eventually dismissing them three games before the playoffs, he said Monday in a news conference.
“Neither of them deserved it,” Kroenke told reporters at Ball Arena, “and for that I apologize.”
But as their working relationship deteriorated, Kroenke admitted, he began to hesitate about their futures in Denver, eventually deciding the dynamic was untenable. The Nuggets fired Malone and Booth last Tuesday during a four-game losing streak, sending shock waves through the NBA community because of the dramatic timing as much as the changes themselves.