Adelman confident Nuggets can rise to challenge after shakeup
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following a chaotic 30-plus hours for the Nuggets, David Adelman met with reporters Wednesday for the first time as the team’s interim head coach and was eager to remind everyone what Denver still is capable of just two seasons removed from an NBA title.
Adelman coached his first game Wednesday night in Sacramento — where his father, Rick, spent eight seasons as head coach — in place of Michael Malone. The Nuggets fired Malone and general manager Calvin Booth in a stunning move Tuesday in hopes of stopping a four-game skid and remaining out of the play-in spots in the Western Conference.
Adelman, the architect of the Nuggets offense, said he and Josh Kroenke, vice chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, met with the team in the wake of those dismissals.
“We are in the mix here, and I think people forget that,” Adelman said. “[Pundits] keep thinking that we didn’t make the playoffs or whatever. We still have a great chance to do something special. We talked about that. The guys seemed convinced. So I’m expecting a really good effort.”
Adelman said Kroenke’s message to the team was to “be better.”
Adelman, 43, has been an assistant for the Nuggets for eight seasons. He spent time Wednesday thanking his predecessor.
“What he did for this team, best coach in history,” Adelman said of Malone. “Can’t argue it. Percentage-wise, wins, Finals, championship. The experience he gave me eight years allowing me to grow as a coach … all the guys on this coaching staff that are here, we’ve been together for a long time. And those guys growing up underneath us, the Jamal’s (Murray), Nikola’s (Jokic), Michael (Porter Jr.), adding Aaron (Gordon), Christian (Braun), what he’s doing now.
“I look at it as a hell of a run, and (Malone’s) not done. So honored to work for the guy and honored to take this seat and do the best I can.”
Despite the fact that Malone and Booth led the Nuggets to the championship in 2023, ownership opted to fire the former and not extend the latter’s contract after the team had been struggling. Sources said a long rift between Malone and Booth grew into a “cold war” over matters such as playing and developing younger players in the rotation in the second unit. Also, since the All-Star break, the Nuggets were 11-13 entering Wednesday. Sources said ownership wanted to make the change because the vibes were poor and that the locker room wasn’t responding, particularly on defense, which had taken a dip.
Players like Jokic and Gordon also have displayed visible frustration on the sideline in recent losses.
Malone, though, did have to deal with injuries to key players like Murray, who missed his sixth straight game Wednesday with a hamstring injury, and Gordon, who has dealt with a calf injury this season.
Malone was 471-327 in Denver and led the franchise to its only NBA championship during a season that saw him provide a strong voice and toughness. And Booth made key moves like drafting Braun and trading for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in his first season as GM in 2022-23.
Sources also said ownership made the moves hoping to make the most of what is remaining this season for Jokic and give the three-time MVP a chance to turn things around and make a deep postseason run.
“I just think our overall vibe,” Adelman said when asked what needs to change. “I think that happens in professional sports.”
He then spoke about his father, a Hall of Fame coach.
“It’s funny to be in Sacramento for this and know that my father was here for eight years and to think that thing would never end when it was going and the vibe here was incredible,” he said. “I felt like that in Portland as a kid (where Rick was head coach for six seasons). Terry (Porter), Clyde (Drexler), Jerome (Kersey), Buck (Williams), (Kevin) Duckworth, it ends sometimes, just the feeling of it.
“And I think that’s our goal here. It’s only three games, it’s 12 quarters or maybe some overtimes, who knows? But I do think it’s on the room to start to rely on each other in a more positive way, and constructive criticism is good. But I think there’s got to be a better way to communicate with our group, and that I think will lead to better play.”
After facing the Kings, the Nuggets play Memphis at home before finishing the regular season at Houston.
Nuggets ownership is hoping its seismic decision will provide the team with a shot in the arm. And it will also get a closer look at Adelman, who interviewed for other head coach vacancies last year, such as the one with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Obviously we have some very dangerous pieces on this team,” Adelman said. “So we just got to get there, and it’s going to be a challenge.
“… Keep the ship moving. We have had so much success, and it’s the same faces and obviously we all change our roles. I think that was the hardest thing for me yesterday was your first thought is for Coach [Malone] and his family, Calvin and his family. And then immediately my next thought was delegation. And where do you put responsibilities? Especially I have a lot of them and now I have to pass it off to somebody else in 24 hours. There’s a ripple effect how the staff coexists. And I think that’s the biggest thing is for me, my responsibility is to make these guys feel like it’s organized.
“Yes, there was a big change. We talked about it and you have to move past it.”
Source: espn.com