Former Nuggets coach Michael Malone secures new job for Conference Finals

Former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone seemed to have his NBA season end back in April when the Nuggets shocked the NBA world and fired him with just a handful of games left in the regular season. However, his NBA season will still be going this week while the Nuggets are done and headed to wild offseason.

Malone is back in the NBA for the Western Conference Finals, but he’ll be in the studio with Stephen A. Smith for ESPN. Who had that one on their bingo card?

According to a report by the Associated Press, “Malone will work on the “NBA Countdown” pregame and halftime studio show that will be on site at all the games in the series, joining Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers, Kendrick Perkins and Shams Charania.”

The longtime Nuggets head coach will be providing analysis on the Thunder-Timberwolves series, which ironically features the two teams who knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs in the last two years. The ESPN set will be on the road and traveling for each game of the series, just like it does for the respective Conference Finals series on the network every season.

Malone will be known by Nuggets fans as the man at the head of the Jokic era in Denver and the winningest head coach in franchise history. He won a title in 2023 as he made himself a fan favorite with his “put that in your pipe and smoke it” slogan, he made the Conference Finals in 2020 after orchestrating two consecutive comebacks from a 3-1 deficit, and he constantly had his players backs up until the end when the tensions were clearly tight.

There’s a lot of interesting ties between the ESPN panel and the Nuggets. Smith and Perkins have not been the highest on Nikola Jokic in recent years, with Perkins even recently saying that he could handle Jokic if he were still in his playing days. Smith has only voted for Jokic as the league MVP once since the 2020-21 season, as he’s constantly made excuses that aren’t basketball related to vote for Joel Embiid or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Kendrick Perkins on defending Jokic

"Jokic wouldn't have wanted this smoke." pic.twitter.com/pTSU3orXME

— n i k o l a e s t h e t i c (@nikolaesthetic) May 16, 2025

Then there’s Bob Myers, who was the general manager of the Golden State Warriors during the franchise’s heyday back in the 2010s when they won three of four championships. Myers was able to bring Kevin Durant to the team while managing the contracts of all his other superstars and key players to make the Warriors one of the greatest teams in league history. He’s been with ESPN for two seasons, but has not ruled out a return to being an executive in the NBA. He is also a member of the front office for the NFL’s Washington Commanders as an advisor and consultant.

Bob Myers' time in Golden State:

2012: Drafted Draymond
2014: Hired Steve Kerr as HC
2014-15: First 🏆
2015-16: 73-9 record, made Finals
2016: Signed KD
2016-17: Second 🏆
2017-18: Third 🏆
2018-19: Made Finals
2021-22: Fourth 🏆 pic.twitter.com/xbRl3HSO46

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 30, 2023

With the general manager spot still being wide open as Josh Kroenke looks to find someone who will put together a roster that can win at least one more ring with Jokic, people have mentioned the possibility of bringing Myers to Denver.

It will be very interesting to see how Malone uses this platform. Will he talk about his demise with the Nuggets at all? Will he take some subtle shots at the franchise? Will he have Jokic debates with Perkins? There are so many interesting ways this can go, and he should be able to provide some great tactical analysis to a network that gets most of its traction from hot takes instead of solid analysis.

Malone’s first appearance for the worldwide leader should be on Tuesday night leading up to Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder. While he reportedly won’t be on the panel for the postgame shows, he’ll be around for all of the pregame and halftime shows.

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