Earlier this week, the Denver Nuggets made a shocking move by firing head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth before the 2024-25 regular season even wrapped up.
This wasn’t just any coaching change. Malone had been with Denver for 10 years and is the winningest coach in franchise history. He led the team to their first-ever NBA Championship in 2023.
The Nuggets played their first game without Malone on Wednesday, beating their opponents 124-116.
After the game, Nikola Jokic didn’t hold back.
“People say that we were vulnerable, but the beast is always the most dangerous when they’re vulnerable,” Jokic told reporters. “Maybe he woke up the beast.”
It’s hard to overstate how deep the connection was between Malone and Jokic. Their NBA journeys have been intertwined from the beginning.
Jokic was just a second-round pick in the 2014 draft. He spent a year playing overseas before joining the Nuggets for the 2015-16 season—which happened to be Malone’s first year as head coach.
When Jokic arrived, the Nuggets already had a starting center in Jusuf Nurkic. But Malone saw something special in the young Serbian.
That bet paid off in ways nobody could have imagined.
Fast forward ten years, and Jokic has transformed into a seven-time All-Star and three-time league MVP. He’s gone from an overlooked second-rounder to arguably the best player in the world.
The firing caught everyone on the roster by surprise. The timing seemed especially strange—why shake up a championship-caliber team this late in the season?
For Jokic, who’s typically quiet and avoids bold statements, Wednesday’s comments stood out. When he told ESPN’s Katie George that “maybe he woke up the beast,” it felt like a warning to the rest of the league.
The 30-year-old superstar clearly took the firing personally. And a motivated Jokic is a scary thought for opponents.
Can he channel that emotion into another deep playoff run? The Nuggets were already dangerous. Now they’re playing with a chip on their shoulder.
We’ll soon find out just how far an awakened beast can carry this team in the 2025 postseason.
