Calvin Booth’s New Interview Reopens the Fight Over Who Built the Nuggets’ 2023 Title

Overview

• Former Denver GM Calvin Booth spoke with Kevin O’Connor about team building, the 2023 championship run, and his strained relationship with coach Michael Malone.
• Booth said multiple forces led to his firing, citing a so‑called Nikola Jokić effect, tension between a first‑time GM and a title‑winning coach, ownership’s valuation of executives, and a perception that he made the job look easy.
• A Yahoo Sports columnist challenged Booth’s framing, crediting Tim Connelly and Michael Malone for drafting and developing the core while acknowledging Booth’s 2022 additions of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown as important complements.
• The opinion piece argued Booth overstated his role in the title and contributed to cultural erosion after 2023, as Denver moved on by dismissing Booth and Malone last year and turning to Ben Tenzer, Jon Wallace, and first-year coach David Adelman.
• Booth defended letting veterans like Brown and Caldwell-Pope walk to create room for prospects such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson under tax constraints, and he indicated interest in another GM opportunity.