Adelman will begin his first season at the helm with a head start on the franchise’s all-time wins list. As interim coach, he finished the 2024-25 season a perfect 3-0.

The team’s president and governor took the interim tag off David Adelman on Thursday, rewarding the 44-year-old hoops lifer for righting the discombobulated Nuggets on short notice and leading them to a Game 7 against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the playoffs.

David Adelman will be the permanent head coach of the Denver Nuggets, the team announced Thursday. Adelman, who held the job on an interim basis in the postseason, took over for Michael Malone after both he and Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth were fired with three games left in the regular season.