The 2025 Western Conference Finals features two of the most exciting teams in the NBA with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The talk out of Denver the last few days, however, has been about Michael Malone and his comments regarding the MVP award and Nikola Jokic.

Needless to say, Nuggets fans were both confused and unhappy about their beloved former head coach's comments. But now Malone has cleared the air.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played a masterful Game 1, leading his Thunder to a big win despite a low-scoring first half. Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 31 points, five rebounds, and nine assists on 10-of-27 shooting from the field and 11-of-14 from the free-throw line. Twenty of his 31 points came in a second half that Oklahoma City outscored Minnesota 70-30.

Following the Thunder's win, former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who signed on to join ESPN's coverage of the Western Conference Finals, made comments that rubbed a lot of people in Denver the wrong way.

“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he showed why he's the MVP,” Malone said. “He took over in the second half, did so in a very efficient manner, and he put the team on his back when they needed him to do so.”

Michael Malone's comments upset some Nuggets fans

Nuggets fans clearly weren't happy. After all, Michael Malone was the longtime coach of Nikola Jokic, who won three MVP awards while he was head coach of the Nuggets.

On Wednesday, the NBA announced that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the winner of the 2024-25 Most Valuable Player award, beating out Jokic and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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Ahead of Thursday night's Game 2 between the Thunder and Timberwolves, Michael Malone made sure to clarify his comments on air.

“I did vote for [Nikola Jokic] again this year, if I had a vote for MVP,” Malone said with a laugh. “I want to make sure the people in Denver know that because right now I'm getting a lot of heat back home.”

Malone was abruptly fired by the Nuggets with just three games left in the regular season. Assistant coach David Adelman took over the helm as interim head coach for the rest of the postseason.

On Thursday, it was announced that Adelman would be the new head coach of the Nuggets moving forward.

While he has no public offers yet, Michael Malone is expected to be back on the sidelines as a head coach in the NBA shortly.