By Vince Carter and By Soraya A. Gerrard | Lead Producer, StorytellerBy Soraya A. Gerrard | Lead Producer, Storyteller - FRPC
“Championship windows don’t close quietly. Sometimes they explode from the inside.”
That’s what we said on the mic. And on April 7, 2025, the Denver Nuggets brought the TNT.
Malone. Gone.
Booth. Out.
Jokic. Silent.
The whole damn thing… nuked, a week before the playoffs.
This isn’t a “reaction blog.” We’re not catching up. We’ve been sounding this alarm for over a year. And now the smoke’s finally reached your feed.
So let’s unpack the full saga—how Denver fumbled their dynasty, what our sources whispered behind the scenes, and why a 21-year-old defensive phenom named Amen Thompson might be the league’s boldest DPOY case since Ben Wallace snatched it from politics.
Also? This isn’t just about takes. This is about building the future of NBA discourse, right here with you. This is FRPC.
Let’s go.
🚨 SECTION ONE: THE MILE HIGH MELTDOWN – INSIDE DENVER’S “RED WEDDING”
It all started with a Shams Bomb. But we already knew the powder keg was lit.
In Denver, tension had been brewing for two years. We called it a “cold war” on the pod. Booth and Malone weren’t aligned on vision, usage, or roster-building. Booth wanted to modernize—youth movement, high-floor rotation gambits, asset stacking. Malone? Old-school. Ride the core. Trust vets. Short leash on everyone else.
What finally broke it? Ownership picked neither. They chose detonation.
Malone and Booth? Both fired. Weeks before the playoffs. A move so wild, it makes the Taylor Jenkins-Memphis divorce look like a rom-com breakup.
Let’s break down the key pillars of the implosion:
1. Booth’s Vision Never Hit the Court
Booth drafted role-fillers. Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, Julian Strawther—solid on paper. But Malone’s rotations? Locked tighter than prime Pop in the postseason. He never trusted the kids.
The tension peaked when KCP walked, Bruce Brown wasn’t re-signed, and Booth’s “next man up” plan was met with crickets and DNP-CDs.
2. Malone Refused to Budge
Even when the team’s defense began crumbling late in the season—21 unguarded threes against Indiana!—Malone clung to his guys. You could see it in how often DeAndre Jordan got run over Zeke. Bruh.
3. Jokic Is Not That Guy—Politically
Jokic doesn’t campaign. He’s a basketball monk. And that silence? It created a power vacuum. If Jokic had said, “I want Malone,” it doesn’t happen. But he didn’t. And that speaks volumes.
🧠 SECTION TWO: THE PHILOSOPHY GAP THAT KILLED A CONTENDER
Here’s the part nobody’s saying out loud: this wasn’t just bad timing—it was long overdue.
Booth built for 2027. Malone coached like it was still 2023.
You cannot “lightyears” your way into a repeat title if your internal ops aren’t aligned. We saw it with Golden State: Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody—they all showed the risk of trying to time travel into dual timelines. Booth was doing the same dance.
Except Booth forgot the one rule: you can’t win the future without winning the present.
Malone knew that. But he never had the patience or political finesse to develop Booth’s picks.
This wasn’t about who was right. This was about who was willing.
And neither was.
🔥 SECTION THREE: “IT’S GIVING SURVIVOR”—THE AFTERMATH OF A FIRE SALE
So now what?
Assistant coach David Adelman steps in as interim. Front office? Vacant. Fanbase? Shellshocked.
But here’s the brutal truth: Denver torpedoed their playoff chances.
And you don’t pull that plug unless the vibes were unrecoverable. The word we heard? Exhaustion. Ownership got sick of the bickering, the passive-aggressive leaks, the clipped media quotes. The choice was clear:
“We’re selling the house. Y’all can split the earnings.”
This wasn’t a realignment. This was a divorce. And the fallout may reshape the Western Conference for years.
If Jokic wants out next year?
You heard it here first.
🛡 SECTION FOUR: AMEN THOMPSON – OUR DPOY, NO APOLOGIES
Now let’s talk about joy.
Let’s talk about basketball violence.
Let’s talk about Amen.
FRPC isn’t afraid of heat. So we’ll say what others won’t:
Amen Thompson is the best perimeter defender in the NBA—and should be the Defensive Player of the Year.
We don’t care about rookie status, voter narratives, or PR-friendly resumes. We care about impact.
And Amen’s impact is nuclear.
Let’s take you inside the tape:
🔒 THE CURRY LOCKDOWN
Steph Curry, on a three-game heater: 125+ points, surgical efficiency.
Amen checked in.
Curry went 0-for-3, committed 3 turnovers, drew 0 free throws when guarded by Thompson.
Rockets were +20 in Amen’s 26 minutes. That’s not a fluke. That’s a perimeter eclipse.
And this wasn’t with help. There were no doubles sent. Ime Udoka trusted Amen on an island.
Let’s be real: Nobody does that to Steph. Especially not a rookie. Especially not a 21-year-old.
📊 THE ANALYTICS CASE
Stat-heads, pull up:
+2.7 Defensive Box Plus-Minus (DBPM) – elite tier, matching Finals MVP Iguodala.
3.6% Block Rate (for a wing!) – higher than some starting centers.
4.7 combined STL+BLK per 100 possessions – freak activity levels.
Rockets’ defensive rating improves by 6.4 points per 100 when he’s on.
That last stat? That’s Draymond in his prime territory. Defensive anchors change geometry. Amen does that—from the wing.
🎭 SECTION FIVE: AMEN IS BUILT DIFFERENT—AND BUILT FOR THIS ERA
What makes this more than a hot take?
It’s how sustainable Amen’s defense is. He’s not just physical—he’s disciplined, calculated, and twitchy like a young Iggy crossed with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
He doesn’t reach. He shadows. He dictates.
And guess what?
He asked for the Curry assignment. The moment he found out the Rockets were facing Golden State, he told Udoka, “Let me guard him.”
That’s not rookie confidence. That’s villain origin story energy.
And now?
He’s him.
🔗 SECTION SIX: THIS IS WHY FRPC EXISTS – BRINGING YOU WHAT THE ALGORITHM IGNORES
We’re not chasing reposts from corporate NBA accounts. We’re not here to “win engagement.” We’re here to build a smarter, deeper basketball community.
Our mission is simple:
🎙️ Blend high-level hoops talk (think: Zach Lowe, Bobby Marks, film study)
🎭 With personality, culture, and sauce (shoutout Wos, RJ, Josiah, and wrestling heels)
📈 While staying five moves ahead in the storytelling game
So when we say Malone-Booth was coming? That wasn’t a lucky call.
When we call Amen DPOY? We mean it.
That’s FRPC.
📣 SECTION SEVEN: CALLING OUR REAL ONES – LET’S GROW TOGETHER
We’re building this with you.
Whether you’ve been rocking with us since Podbean or just found us via Spotify algorithm blessings—you’re part of this movement.
So here’s what we need from you:
Join the convo: @frontrunnerPC
Tap in with me personally: @Rhea_Funch_FRPC
Give us your takes: Who's your DPOY? Would you bring back Tim Connelly to Denver? Should Steph be mad? Should Jokic be louder?
Because we’re only getting started. And if you’re tired of boring ESPN desk takes and TikTok stat gimmicks, we got you.
🏁 FINAL THOUGHT: “IF YOU SEE THE SMOKE, IT’S ALREADY TOO LATE.”
Denver saw the smoke. They waited. Then their season got torched.
Meanwhile, Amen’s setting the league ablaze one defensive possession at a time.
And we? We’re staying tapped in, loud, thoughtful, and occasionally reckless in our truths—because somebody’s gotta tell the real story.
You with us?
#FRPC
✨ Growth hits different when you’re surrounded by real ones. If you don’t have that circle yet—start with us.
– Soraya