The Denver Nuggets have named David Adelman as the new head coach after a surprising playoff run.
More Nuggets news:Nuggets Star Nikola Jokic Urged Aaron Gordon to Not Play Game 7
ESPN's Shams Charania shared via X.
Charania noted that the Nuggets were impressed with Adelman's performance and believe he has the potential to make a smooth transition into a full-time head coaching role.
Although the Nuggets came up short in the playoffs, losing in the second round to the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, Adelman made a strong impression. After the loss, Nuggets governor Josh Kroenke revealed how he felt Adelman did under his interim tag.
"Outside of the championship, this is the most proud I've been because these guys have really rallied," Kroenke said.
Kroenke decided to hire Adelman after shockingly firing his champion head coach, Mike Malone, with less than seven games remaining in the 2024-25 season. After 10-plus seasons with the team, Kroenke decided that it was time for a change, and he wanted to keep things in-house by adding Adelman as the guy at the helm moving forward.
Adelman has been with the Nuggets organization for the past eight years. He joined as an assistant under Malone in 2017 and helped guide the Nuggets to the title in 2023.
This year, they came within a single win of reaching the Western Conference Finals - a feat that would have marked their second trip in three years. Despite widespread doubt following the dismissal of Malone, the Nuggets, led by the Adelman and his staff, exceeded expectations. They secured a hard-fought first-round victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games and pushed the Thunder to the edge in the next round.
While having the game's top player, Nikola Jokic, certainly played a role, Adelman's contributions were pivotal to the team's deep postseason run.
After the team's elimination in Game 7 on Sunday, a handful of Nuggets players, including Jamal Murray, advocated for the team to keep Adelman.
"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."
Adelman quickly gained the trust and respect of the locker room, and now he steps into the lead role-one the Nuggets believe he can hold for the long haul as they look to build sustained success.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 3:07 PM.