Nuggets Staff Reportedly Felt 'Obligated' to Side with Michael Malone or Calvin Booth

The long-simmering tension between head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth was impacting Denver Nuggets personnel, according to the Denver Post's Bennett Durando.

Durando reported Saturday that Malone and Booth "seldom engaged with each other" and that "factions had quietly formed within the organization." In the insider's words, people from both the coaching staff and front office eventually felt "obligated to take sides."

Durando spoke to a source who said "an 'us vs. them' type of thing" emerged.

Another source described Malone and Booth's relationship as "contentious." And rather than airing their grievances with one another in the open, they "complained behind each other's backs."

This echoes the earlier reporting on why the Nuggets fired Malone with immediate effect and said Booth's contract won't be extended.

"Coaches, front office staffers and support staff felt compelled to choose sides, multiple team sources said," ESPN's Tim MacMahon and Ramona Shelburne reported Friday. "Instead of focusing on how to get the most out of a team with a three-time MVP having arguably his best season as a professional, energy was being spent on determining which side people were on — and whether they could be trusted."

The dynamic was clearly untenable and somebody had to go. The extent to which Malone and Booth's "cold war" impacted others behind the scenes probably helps to explain why the Nuggets are moving on from both.

MacMahon and Shelburne reported that Denver's players "tuned out Malone," and there's no coming back from that as a coach. He couldn't continue in that role.

Retaining Booth then risked undermining whoever succeeds Malone as the head coach. In addition, his presence may have fostered some resentment from people who were unhappy with how everything went down.

Needing to hire a head coach and general manager simultaneously is less than ideal for a franchise with championship aspirations. Cleaning house was better than maintaining the status quo, though.