Denver Nuggets fans will see a familiar face in the televised coverage of the NBA's Western Conference Finals this year. Michael Malone, who was fired by Denver with three games remaining in the regular season, will join ESPN for its coverage.
Michael Malone at Chase Center on April 4, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Eakin Howard / Getty Images
Malone, of course, will not be covering his former team that he coached for a decade. The Nuggets were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday and OKC is advancing out of the second round to face the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The series begins Tuesday night.
Malone led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship in 2023 and is the franchise's career leader in wins. But they made the surprising decision to part ways with him and general manager Calvin Booth in the final week of the regular season.
David Adelman finished the season as Denver's coach.
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.
[Jesse Sarles](https://www.cbsnews.com/team/jesse-sarles/)
Jesse Sarles manages the web content and website operations for CBS Colorado. He writes articles about Colorado news and sports in and around the Denver area.
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