The firing of Mike Malone by the Denver Nuggets came out of the blue. Former Nugget Carmelo Anthony was in the middle of recording the latest edition of his 7 PM In Brooklyn podcast when he heard the news. Despite getting caught unawares, Melo was already in a good position to break down what the firing meant.
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“This had to be a lot of build-up, or some players inside the locker room weren’t feeling Mike Malone,” Melo claimed. He went on to explain that he’s seen coaches walk out or get fired. So this is not exactly unprecedented.
But with Malone joining Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown in sudden firings before the end of the season, Anthony and company addressed what could be causing this trend. Melo thinks he has a good grasp on it. Money.
“Why the f**k are y’all paying coaches that much money and are willing to just say, ‘Go, we’ll pay y’all’?” Asked Melo, before adding that hired coaches should serve out their full contracts so that owners can avoid paying them guarantees.
“I don’t give a f**k what no fan say[s], no media, you’re gonna coach your contract out,” he added. So what is Melo’s solution?
The 10x All-Star has a pitch on how to keep some of this major money going to coaches. His solution will also ensure owners are less likely to pull the trigger when things aren’t going well.
“The coaches’ salaries should be a part of the overall salary cap,” he said, adding that this would stop coaches from making such outrageous salaries and force ownership to stick with the person they hired.
Monty Williams is a prime example of why this needs to be implemented. The Phoenix Suns bought out his contract for $20 million after firing him in 2023. The Detroit Pistons then offered Monty $78.5 million for six years and are still paying him, despite sacking him after just a year.
Whether Williams is worth this outrageous amount of money is not the question here. The point is that he’s still getting paid since there is no cap for coaches.
One thing is for certain: Anthony remains one of the most plugged-in retired players podcasting. His suggestion would keep the NBA’s money where it belongs: To the players.
