The internal unraveling of the Denver Nuggets ... and where the 2022-23 champs go from here

Taking you behind the scenes of the rare NBA dismissal of both coach and GM on the same day

The writing was on the wall on Monday. That's when members of Denver's front office learned that Nuggets operating owner Josh Kroenke and his father Stan would be joining the team in Sacramento for Wednesday's game against the Kings. A four-game losing streak had not only sent Denver tumbling down the Western Conference standings, but each bumpy rung on that ladder only amplified the long-running discord between general manager Calvin Booth and head coach Michael Malone.

By Tuesday, even before that game against the Kings, both were gone — fired with just three games left in the season in a shocking double whammy that left many within the organization with the feeling ownership did not want either Booth or Malone to emerge victorious from the ideological battle they had been waging. A battle that began before Denver's storybook run to the 2022-23 championship.

League sources told The Stein Line that Booth declined what he considered a below-market contract extension prior to this season. And few, if any, Nuggets staffers — including Malone's assistants — have deals that extend beyond this 2024-25 campaign. That certainly fostered uncertainty within the Nuggets all season about the future leadership of the franchise, but letting both Booth and Malone go simultaneously — before any possible early playoff run — stunned team insiders regardless. It's not often, after all, that teams part ways with their coach and GM at the same time.