As people started to process the stunning events that unfolded on Tuesday with the Denver Nuggets, a lot of questions started being asked. The team shockingly fired head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth, seemingly out of nowhere, with just three games remaining in the regular season.
It was a completely unprecedented move, and for it to be executed by a team that is the number four seed in the Western Conference, just two years removed from winning a championship, and employing the best player in the world, to say it left folks stunned would be an understatement.
Once the news started coming out, in waves, with little tidbits added here and there, the first questions that came to mind all revolved around Nikola Jokic. Did he know about these moves ahead of time? Did he approve of them? Did he advocate for them???
Jokic has never been known to meddle in off-court affairs, but his on-court frustration has been hard to ignore this season. For the three-time MVP, who’s having the best season of his career, to be watching his team lose games at an alarming clip recently, had to have the now-30-year-old thinking about the big picture a bit more than usual.
On top of that, it would be negligent, and borderline self-sabotage for the Nuggets to make drastic moves like this without consulting the greatest player in the history of the franchise, who’s in the peak of his prime.
Jokic was informed of firings, but not consulted
After Wednesday night’s victory over the Kings in the first game of the Post-Malone (are we really doing this?) era, Jokic spoke to the media for the first time since the firings and answered the questions that have been on everyone's minds.
“I’m not gonna say what Josh told me…(but) I mean, I knew a little bit before everybody, and he … told me, ‘We made a decision.’ So it was not a discussion. It was (their) decision. And, you know … he told me why (it was done). And so I listen and I accept it.”
This explanation pretty much backs up everything we know and assume about Jokic and his involvement. As he views it, his job is to play basketball and that’s what he does. He handled this with his usual amount of professionalism, taking the news in stride, acknowledging that this was a message to the players, and also saying that he spoke with Malone after the firing.
Of course, this is a tough situation, and Malone and Jokic have always had a great relationship - as he is the only NBA head coach that Jok has ever known. However, the organization believed that change was needed and Jokic accepted that.
It’s at least somewhat reassuring that ownership spoke with Jokic; he is the biggest reason behind all of these dramatic moves after all. Everything the team does needs to revolve around Jokic, maximizing his window, and making sure the big man stays in Denver - and stays happy.
Ultimately, winning at the highest level is what will make Jokic happy. Ownership has shown that the priority is to win, but now they need to make the right moves to ensure that happens.