Nuggets coach Mike Malone will miss game against Trailblazers due to health and safety protocols

The Denver Nuggets announced on social media that head coach Michael Malone will miss the team’s home game Tuesday night against Portland after entering the league’s health and safety protocols.

Assistant coach David Adelman – son of Naismith Hall of Famer Rick Adelman – will fill in for a Nuggets team that entered the night tied with Memphis for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Nuggets (30-13) have won 13 straight home games at Ball Arena.

Malone, 51, was hired by Denver on June 15, 2015. He’s won 344 games over eight seasons with the Nuggets, which is the third-most in team history. He trails only Doug Moe (432) and George Karl (423). Malone also has a 21-27 postseason mark with Denver.

The Nuggets announced on Twitter that head coach Mike Malone is out of Tuesday’s game

This season, Malone (right, next to Jamal Murray) has led Denver to a 13 straight home wins

Adelman is in his fifth season in Denver and is currently serving as Malone’s lead assistant coach. He was formerly a player develoment and assistant coach on the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2011 to 2015, under his father, Rick. 

After Rick retired in 2014, Adelman stayed on Minnesota’s coaching staff and was the head coach for the franchise’s NBA Summer League team for three seasons under Flip Saunders, who died in 2015, and then Sam Mitchell. 

Adelman left the Timberwolves in 2016 to join the Orlando Magic as an assistant coach to Frank Vogel for one season, prior to the latter’s move to the Los Angeles Lakers, before joining Denver. 

He travelled to the 2020 NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida, where the Nuggets became the first team in league history to turn around back-to-back 3-1 deficits in the playoffs.

Denver lost in Game 5 to the Los Angeles Lakers, ironically coached by Vogel. L.A. went on to win the 2020 ‘Bubble Championship’.

Adelman was also an assistanc coach in the 2019 NBA All-Star game.