DeAndre Jordan Says Nuggets Had 'Serious' Talk After Michael Malone's Firing

Denver Nuggets players had "serious" conversations amongst themselves after the firing of head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth in the words of veteran center DeAndre Jordan.

"We just had serious conversations with each other," Jordan told reporters after Wednesday's 124-116 win over the Sacramento Kings. "... Sometimes you go one way or you go another. It doesn't stay the same. We responded well, I thought, tonight. We just gotta build off this."

The 2016-17 All-Star said he and his teammates took notice of the Memphis Grizzlies getting rid of their head coach, Taylor Jenkins, so they weren't caught totally off guard when Malone was let go.

A new report from The Athletic's Sam Amick and Tony Jones laid out why the Nuggets made such a dramatic move with just three games left in the regular season. Star center Nikola Jokić and others "had grown frustrated and fatigued by Malone's fiery ways."

Malone's relationship with Booth was in an even worse state.

Maybe this is what galvanizes Nuggets players. The victory over Sacramento snapped a four-game losing skid, so the team's on-court results were trending in the wrong direction with the postseason rapidly approaching.

It sounds like Denver needed a new voice in the locker room, and a coaching change can help to generate some necessary introspection.

Whereas some saw Malone's dismissal at such a late juncture as a foreboding sign, maybe that's all it ultimately took for the Nuggets to snap out of their funk at the perfect time.