David Adelman: Now isn’t time to make case for full-time job

David Adelman, the Denver Nuggets’ interim head coach, didn’t want to use the post-game press conference in the wake of Sunday’s Game Seven throttling at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder to make his case for getting the gig on a full-tine basis.

“I don’t think it’s time for me to think about that,” Adelman said. “We just lost Game Seven. Our season’s over. Decision makers will make that decision.”

“Obviously, blessed to have this opportunity to take the helm and lead this team. It’s something obviously, if I’m not back next year, I’ll obviously never forget this. It’s been an incredible experience.

“To have the buy-in from the guys was really special for me.”

Aaron Gordon, for one, wants Adelman back.

“I love D.A.,” he said. “I hope he’s here next year. I hope he’s our coach. I hope he gets an entire training camp, and a whole offseason and a whole training camp to figure out his philosophy.”

Jamal Murray praised Adelman’s work in recent weeks.

“I think he did a great job, considering everything,” Murray said.

“How we had to stay together, the different schemes that he came up with, AG (Gordon) batting through everything, Jok (Nikola Jokić battling through) everything, bench stepping up, all in all, guys staying with it and keeping a positive attitude in what we can do.”

Jamal Murray said David Adelman “did a great job” pic.twitter.com/kDQQt1xTsi

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 18, 2025

Christian Braun echoed that sentiment in the locker room.

“I’m so grateful to [Adelman],” Braun said. “He was awesome to us. I think the guys really like him as a person, as a coach. He was great for us.”

Added Jokić: “It’s a tough spot to be. He had three games to change something. I think he changed energy.”

DAVID ADELMAN’S RECORD AS AN INTERIM HEAD COACH DOESN’T QUITE TELL THE STORY

If you look at David Adelman’s total win-loss tally, it’s 10-7. Obviously, the rigorous competition of the postseason is going to affect the mark; he went .500 in the postseason and 3-0 to close the regular season.

The Nuggets had a penchant for winning close games in the conference semifinals; Oklahoma City blasted them in Games Two and Seven, leading to a minus-64 point differential that was the second-worst ever in a seven-game series.

Opportunities were lost in Games Four and Five, when the Nuggets held fourth-quarter leads.

“We had legitimate opportunities to completely control the series, but we just didn’t follow through with that,” Adelman said.

But this was a 68-14 Thunder team, and Adelman’s work in coaxing wins that resulted in the series extending to a decisive Game Seven cannot be overlooked.

Considering the chaos enveloping the Nuggets stood at the time of the firings of Michael Malone and Calvin Booth, few could have foreseen this side eventually pushing the Thunder as far as it did.

The groundwork for that was laid during the final three games of the regular season, when David Adelman guided the team to three consecutive wins while quickly piecing a seemingly broken team back together on the fly.

“I think part of the reason we were where we were is he let us rally around each other and talk to each other,” Braun said.

Noted Jokić: “I think the guys were woken up a little bit. The guys had more energy. He made us believe in something and we played good.”

Braun said David Adelman was “great, very grateful to him.” pic.twitter.com/jCfIqi2lOZ

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 18, 2025

And those three games at the end of the regular season will still with Adelman.

“What we did at the end of the season — I bought this up a few times, but everyone’s going to remember these Game Sevens and these playoff series and all that,” Adelman recalled.

“I’m going to remember the last few games of the season, because we showed up in Sacramento in a must-win. We did it.

“We did it with Memphis on a Friday night. We did it in Houston. Three teams that were vying for position.

“So, those were big-time games. For the guys to come together that quickly, to give us this opportunity — very special to me, I’ll never forget it. Something I think down the road when I’m older, this group will always remember this. It was about us in that room, like I said.”

The question now regarding David Adelman is this: Will it be enough?

“I’m not the guy [to ask],” Jokić said. “It’s above my pay grade.”

David Adelman says Game 4 and Game 5 losses are just as tough as losing today’s Game 7. “We had legitimate opportunities to completely control the series, but we just didn’t follow through with that.” pic.twitter.com/cxjuYtzoTT

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 18, 2025

Related

Another new team enters the Peyton Watson sweepstakesSpencer Jones opens up about free agency on LinkedInThe addition of DeMar DeRozan would transform the NuggetsIt’s hard to imagine the Nuggets taking on the repeater tax next seasonReport: Nuggets offer Peyton Watson way less money than Christian BraunNuggets give David Adelman some help, hire Dave Joerger