“It was a 10-year relationship,” Nikola Jokic said about his former coach. After getting drafted, the Serbian player has, until now, teamed up with just one coach in the NBA. It’s already been a decade. The 53-year-old also led the Nuggets to an NBA championship in 2023. After much speculation, the Nuggets center finally spoke his mind. While he knows the reason behind the veteran coach’s firing, he chose to keep it to himself. However, that hasn’t stopped the assumptions. As NBA analyst The Jet weighed in on the decision, Chuck shifted the conversation with his take on the locker room situation.

The Nuggets were on a four-game losing streak when the announcement came. Well, the firing of coaches after repeated failures has, worryingly, become common in the NBA. However, despite that, this move came as a surprise to many. TNT analyst Kenny Smith, in the latest segment, explained how every franchise wants to win and there’s a measuring stick for all the individuals in the organisations. 

He suggested that understanding and aligning with the team’s definition of success is crucial to avoid potential issues. “When you’re getting hired for a job, your first question should be, what is success to you? And if he cannot answer that question, you could always be fired. Because if success means I’m going to be one of the top four Cs in the league, I’m going to be in contention for winning an NBA championship…” 

“If that’s measuring success, then he always wins. But if you’re going to say, right now, I don’t know what Denver Nuggets measures success by. So how can I tell you if what you did was good?” he added.

Charles Barkley quickly chimed in with his locker room theory. He went on to add how every locker room has issues and that makes it difficult for teams to truly become one and succeed. “You know that old saying, what happens in the locker room, need to stay in the locker room? Ernie, if the regular world knew what all the crap that goes on, on any team sport, there’s a lot of clicks. There’s a lot of animosity. That’s why it’s so hard to win. Because very few teams actually…” Chuck said. However, Smith was quick to argue that a performance can eliminate that issue and said, “but that eliminates the animosity if you’re a coach.” 

Before the veteran analysts dissected the shift, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic also addressed the matter in his press conference.

Nikola Jokic opens up about Michael Malone’s firing

The Denver Nuggets see hope and light after breaking their four-game losing streak with a 124-116 win over the Sacramento Kings. Jokic contributed 20 points to help the team. And the win has helped the Nuggets maintain their lead for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference standings.

But this comes after one “heavy” day. As the Serbian player addressed the former coach’s firing, he explained that he had texted Coach Malone after the news. “In my country, if someone gets fired, probably you’re next. I think it definitely changed something to get the reaction of what they wanted probably,” he said. This sentiment underscores how such a significant change can create a sense of accountability and pressure within a team, potentially jolting players into a higher level of performance to avoid similar consequences.

He revealed that he had been told a little about the decision before the rest, however, it wasn’t a discussion. Calvin Booth, who was the general manager, was also fired. “I knew a little bit before everybody. (Josh Kroenke) told me we made a decision. It was not a discussion, it was a decision. He told me why and I listened and I accepted. I’m not gonna tell what he told me, I’m going to keep that private,” he added.

Among the coaches who have won in the last few years, only Joe Mazzulla and Steve Kerr are still with their teams. Others have already been fired. While the Nuggets have managed to break the losing streak, the true test will come in the playoffs.