It wasn't that long ago he was introduced as the new Oklahoma City Thunder head coach with confusion and skepticism. Five years later, he's gone from an unknown to a household name. The Coach of the Year winner is now the sixth-longest tenured NBA head coach after Gregg Popovich recently announced his retirement from the San Antonio Spurs job.

Nuggets fire Malone weeks before playoffs Many question the Denver Nuggets’ decision to fire their former head coach Michael Malone on April 8, 2025. At the time of his firing, Malone was the head coach for the last 10 seasons.

Since then, Adelman has been a player development coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves (2011-16) and an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic (2016-17) and Nuggets (2017-25). He was placed in the interim role after the Nuggets fired coach Michael Malone on April 8.