As the Los Angeles Lakers prepare for their 2025 playoff run, they may have to worry quite a bit less about one opponent in particular: The Denver Nuggets. On Tuesday morning, Shams Charanira reported that the Nuggets had officially fired their head coach, Michael Malone. This decision came with just three games remaining in the regular season.
This news, of course, comes as a massive shock to anyone who has followed the Nuggets this season. As of Tuesday morning, Denver was tied for the fourth seed in the Western Conference and looked to have a chance of making another deep run in the playoffs. Now, it appears that task will be much more difficult without their head coach of ten years.
Malone had been in Denver since the 2015-16 season, and he had coached Nikola Jokic for the big man's entire career. He was the head coach that helped bring the Nuggets their first championship in franchise history less than two years ago, and now he will be walking out the door without another shot at a postseason run. Along with Malone, Denver General Manager Calvin Booth was fired as well. It's a sequence of decisions that is truly difficult to fathom.
Michael Malone was fired by the Nuggets
Lakers fans will no doubt be happy to hear this news, given how much the Nuggets have tormented their team over the course of the last two seasons. Denver stomped LA in back-to-back playoff series in 2023 and 2024, sweeping them in their first meeting and winning in five last season. No matter what the Lakers did, it seemed the Nuggets had their number every single time.
Before Luka Doncic arrived in town, Denver routinely took down LA in the regular season as well, leading many to think they were still the Lakers' worst playoff matchup possible. When number 77 donned the Purple and Gold, it changed things, but there was still the concern of the Nuggets being a tough opponent.
Now, with Malone out of the picture, it is hard to see Denver becoming a better team in the playoffs. If anything, it feels like the Nuggets will now be an easier out in the postseason in spite of Jokic's greatness. The Lakers have to feel good about their chances for the rest of April and May with arguably their biggest adversary thrown for a loop like this.