Sacramento reacts as former Kings coach Michael Malone leads Nuggets to first NBA title

Sacramento will always have a special affinity for Michael Malone, the former Kings coach who led the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA championship Monday night.

The Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena in Denver to win the best-of-seven series 4-1.

Some on social media took the opportunity to mock the Kings for firing Malone nearly nine years ago. Others just wanted to congratulate the coach who appeared to have the Kings on the right track before he was unceremoniously removed early in the 2014-15 season.

“Congratulations Michael Malone!” Kings fan @dudman1220 tweeted. “Too bad it’s Denver and not Sacramento.”

Malone coached the Kings from 2013-14. The Kings went 11-13 to start the 2014-15 season before Malone was fired on Dec. 15, 2014, at a time when the organization was plagued by mismanagement and dysfunction. Many Kings fans didn’t like the decision then and still struggle to understand it now.

“Me still being inconsolably irate at his firing in Sacramento but elated Michael Malone is getting set to win an NBA Title is as close to magnanimous as I will ever get in my sports fandom,” Kings fan Chris Duerr tweeted.

The Kings are in a better place now after Mike Brown, the first unanimous winner of the NBA Coach of the Year award, led them to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Still, many fans in Sacramento have fond memories of Malone, one of the only coaches who connected with former Kings center DeMarcus Cousins.

Denver hired Malone in June 2015. The Nuggets missed the playoffs each of his first three seasons before beginning a string of five consecutive postseason appearances. Malone has formed special relationships with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray.

Kings fan @vietrph tweeted: “@SacramentoKings You guys gonna put out a congratulations tweet for our former coach Michael Malone? He deserves it. Once a King, always a King. #SacramentoProud”