The Denver Nuggets have fired coach Brian Shaw, general manager Tim Connelly announced Tuesday.
“I want to sincerely thank Brian for his time with our organization,” Connelly said in a team release. “You won’t find a better guy than Brian and he is one of the brightest basketball minds I’ve ever been around. Unfortunately things didn’t go as we hoped, but we know with his basketball acumen that he has a very bright future ahead of him.”
Melvin Hunt, one of Shaw’s assistants, will serve as interim coach. Hunt is in his fifth season with Denver after five seasons as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach.
The timing of the dismissal was somewhat surprising given that just last week Connelly seemed to signal Shaw’s job was safe at least through the end of the season.
The Nuggets are in the midst of a six-game losing streak and have struggled in compiling a 20-39 record this season under Shaw.
“This has been a trying season for all of us,” team president Josh Kroenke said in a statement. “And we appreciate Nuggets fans continued faith and patience as we build our proud organization back to the NBA’s elite.”
Information from Espn.com contributed to this report.