Denver Nuggets president Josh Kroenke discussed Michael Malone and Calvin Booth’s firing at his recent press conference before addressing trade rumors surrounding Nuggets guard Michael Porter Jr. In one of the most shocking head coach dismissals the NBA has seen in decades, Kroenke fired coach Malone and GM Booth, weeks before the postseason.

After addressing Malone and Booth, Kroenke called out Porter Jr.’s trade rumor, per DNVR Nuggets’ X, formerly Twitter.

“I’m incredibly proud of Michael. Let’s talk about him on a human level and what he’s been through. Several back surgeries, being told he was never going to play again, slipping in the NBA draft to a place where we were privileged enough to take a player that talented, and working through the setbacks that he’s had not only on the court with his back, but off the court, in his personal life as well.”

Kroenke says he doesn’t plan on trading Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr. or other players as a follow-up to firing his head coach and GM before a playoff run two years removed from winning a championship in 2023.

“Any kind of report saying that we’re now open to trading everybody possible to improve the team is [completely] false,” Kroenke added. “I’m surely not going to be green-lighting any trades around here when I don’t see complete organizational cohesion and we’re not maximizing the group we got,” Kroenke concluded.

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Josh Kroenke’s apologetic take on Nuggets’ recent firings

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone during the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Ball Arena
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke started his press conference on Monday by thanking Michael Malone and Calvin Booth for their effort over the years. Kroenke admitted the decision to part ways wasn’t easy, and it doesn’t overshadow the success that led to the franchise’s first NBA championship in 2023.

“Thank you to both Calvin and coach Malone. It was an incredibly tough decision for us for a lot of levels,” Kroenke said. “I think at the very end of the day, it was a very tough decision because of the amount of respect that I personally have, and that we as an organization, have for both of what those gentlemen did for us while they were here. They brought us our first championship, helped establish a new culture, new standards that will continue to move on into the future. To be frank, neither of them deserved it. And for that, I apologize.”

David Adelman was promoted to interim head coach for this year’s Nuggets playoff run.