OKLAHOMA CITY — David Adelman wasn’t ready to address the elephant in the room, but his players were.
The moment the final buzzer blared on Sunday, the Nuggets didn’t have a head coach.
Their season was over in Oklahoma City, as was the interim portion of Adelman’s tenure after 17 games in charge. He coached almost as many Game 7s (two) as he did regular-season contests (three). That’s how preposterous the circumstances of his temporary promotion were.
At least one player unambiguously hopes it’s more than temporary.
“I love DA,” Aaron Gordon 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.”
Employed by the Nuggets since 2017, Adelman took over as interim coach after the team fired Michael Malone in the last week of the regular season. Denver was in danger of falling to the Play-In Tournament when the dramatic change was made. Adelman shepherded the team back into fourth place then into the second round of the playoffs.
“I don’t think it’s time for me to think about that,” he said when asked about the possibility of earning the full-time gig. “We just lost Game 7. Our season is over. Decision-makers will make that decision. Obviously, blessed to have this opportunity to take the helm and lead this team. … If I’m not back next year, I’ll obviously never forget this. It’s been an incredible experience. And to have the buy-in from the guys was really special for me.”
Nuggets president and governor Josh Kroenke announced after firing Malone that a full search for his replacement would be conducted after the season. But sources told The Denver Post that even after Denver’s Game 7 loss, team brass was left impressed by the turnaround and job Adelman did.
And even the players who didn’t endorse Adelman as explicitly as Gordon — Nikola Jokic said it’s “above my pay grade” — offered positive evaluations.
“I think he did a great job,” Jamal Murray said, pointing out “the different schemes that we came up with.”
“It’s a tough spot to be,” Jokic said. “He had three games to change something, and I think he changed the energy. 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, you know? We played a seven-game series with probably best team in NBA, and we had opportunity. We had chances. So I think he did a really good job.”
Malone was the third coach fired during the 2024-25 NBA season, joining Sacramento’s Mike Brown and Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins. In both other cases, the interim coach who finished the season ended up getting the full-time job, despite the fact that neither the Kings nor Grizzlies won a playoff game.
“Everyone’s gonna remember these Game 7s and the playoff series and all that. I’m gonna remember the last three games of the (regular) season,” Adelman said. “… Those were big-time games, and for the guys that quickly to come together and 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.”
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