For a decade, there were few more accomplished player-coach combinations than the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić and Michael Malone. The two joined Denver in 2015, Jokić famously as an unheralded mid-second round draft pick, who was drafted in ‘14 and joined the team the same year that the franchise hired Malone, who was coming off of a short stint with the Kings.
Jokić was an All-Rookie selection in 2016 and by ‘19, made his first All-Star Game. He would go on to win three MVPs under Malone and the pair led Denver to its first NBA championship in ‘23. The Nuggets have experienced diminishing returns in the years after that title, though, and Malone was surprisingly fired just ahead of the playoffs in 2025.
