NEW YORK -- Michael Malone, who was fired by the Denver Nuggets with three games remaining in the regular season, will join ESPN for its coverage of the Western Conference finals.
The series beginning Tuesday night matches the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who eliminated Malone's former team in seven games in the second round.
Malone led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship in 2023 and is the franchise's career leader in wins. But they made the surprising decision to part ways with him and general manager Calvin Booth in the final week of the regular season.
David Adelman finished the season as Denver's coach.
Malone will work on the "NBA Countdown" pregame and halftime studio show that will be on-site at all the games in the series, joining Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers, Kendrick Perkins and Shams Charania.