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Michael Malone (born September 15, 1971) is an American professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach who is the head coach of the Denver Nuggets of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
(NBA). He has also been the head coach of the
Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
. Malone previously served as an assistant coach of the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers,
New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
, and Golden State Warriors.


Early life and education

Born in the Astoria neighborhood of the New York City borough
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, Malone is the son of Brendan Malone, a former NBA head coach. After graduating from
Seton Hall Preparatory School Seton Hall Preparatory School, generally called Seton Hall Prep or "The Prep", is a Roman Catholic all boys' high school located in the suburban community of West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey, operating under the supervision of the Arch ...
, Malone attended prep school at
Worcester Academy Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...
in the 1988–89 school year. He then graduated from
Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in th ...
in 1994 with a degree in history and played on the Loyola Greyhounds men's basketball team from 1989 to 1993. He appeared in 107 games and started 39 of them as a point guard. During his four seasons with the Greyhounds, Malone totaled 370 points, 279 assists and 79 steals in 18.5 minutes per game.


Coaching career

While completing his degree at Loyola, Malone was an assistant high school basketball coach at Friends School of Baltimore. After graduating from Loyola, Malone joined Oakland University as an assistant coach for Golden Grizzlies men's basketball under coach Greg Kampe. Malone was about to start training to join the
Michigan State Police The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide. The department was founded in 1917 as a wart ...
before getting a job offer from Providence College coach Pete Gillen. Malone was an assistant coach for Providence Friars men's basketball from 1995 to 1998. In the 1998–99 season, Malone was director of men's basketball administration at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
.


Early NBA years (2001–2011)

He later moved up to the NBA in 2001 as a coaching associate with the New York Knicks who worked with players, coaching staff, personnel and the video coordinator and edited scouting reports. The Knicks promoted Malone to assistant coach in 2003. Malone later served as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from to . With Cleveland, Malone helped coach the Cavaliers to five consecutive playoff appearances, including the
2007 NBA Finals The 2007 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2006–07 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs de ...
, and a franchise-record, league-best 66–16 season in the . Malone was an assistant coach with the
New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
in the . Allowing a league-best 8.7 fewer points per game than last season, the Hornets had the most improved defense of the season with Malone as assistant and made the 2011 Playoffs.


Golden State Warriors (2011–2013)

The Golden State Warriors hired Malone in the summer of 2011 as an assistant coach under Mark Jackson. In the , the Warriors improved from a 23–43 record to finish 47–35 and earn the team's first playoff berth since 2007. As the sixth seed in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, the Warriors upset the third-seed Denver Nuggets in the first round and lost to the eventual Western Conference champion
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...
in six games the next round. Malone was reportedly the highest-paid NBA assistant coach in the . In 2012, Malone was named the best assistant coach by the NBA general managers. Several Warriors, including
Draymond Green Draymond Jamal Green Sr. (born March 4, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, who plays primarily at the power forward position, is a four-time N ...
and Stephen Curry have credited Malone as being a huge part of the team's success after his departure.


Sacramento Kings (2013–2014)

On June 3, 2013, Malone was hired by majority owner
Vivek Ranadivé Vivek Yeshwant Ranadivé (; born 7 October 1957) is an Indian-American business executive, engineer, author, speaker and philanthropist.D'Agostino, RyanThe Man Who Knows Everything ''Esquire''. 19 January 2012. Ranadivé is the founder and form ...
as the new head coach of the
Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
. With the hiring, Malone and his father became the second father-son duo in NBA history, after
Bill Musselman William Clifford Musselman (August 13, 1940 – May 5, 2000) was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was known for his trademark intensity, once being quoted as saying, "Defeat is worse than deat ...
and
Eric Musselman Eric Musselman (born November 19, 1964) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas. He is the former head coach of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors of the ...
, to head coach an NBA team. On December 15, 2014, he was fired by the Kings after starting the 2014–15 season with an 11–13 win–loss record.


Denver Nuggets (2015–present)

On June 15, 2015, he was named the new head coach of the Denver Nuggets. In the 2018–19 season, Malone led the Nuggets to the second seed in the Western Conference, behind the Golden State Warriors, with a 54–28 record. In the Nuggets first playoff berth in six seasons, Denver defeated the
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...
in the First Round in seven games, before being eliminated in the Semi-finals by the
Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
, also in seven games. On December 24, 2019, the Nuggets announced that they had agreed to a contract extension with Malone. During the 2020 playoffs in the NBA Bubble, the Nuggets would become the first team in league history to overcome multiple 3–1 deficits in a single postseason, defeating the
Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...
and
Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
in the First Round and Semi-finals respectively, in seven games after trailing 3–1 each series. Despite the historic feat, Denver would be eliminated in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual NBA champion, the Los Angeles Lakers, in five games. On March 23, 2022, Malone and the Nuggets reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension.


National team coaching career

In January 2020, Malone joined the Serbian national team coaching staff as a consultant for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.


Personal life

Malone and his wife have two daughters.


Head coaching record

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Conference Finals Conference Finals may refer to: * NBA Conference Finals, National Basketball Association * NHL Conference Finals The National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship series of the NHL. ...
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References


External links


NBA.com profile


{{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Michael 1971 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Denver Nuggets head coaches Guards (basketball) Golden State Warriors assistant coaches Loyola Greyhounds men's basketball players Manhattan Jaspers basketball coaches New Orleans Hornets assistant coaches New York Knicks assistant coaches Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball coaches People from Lafayette, California People from Placer County, California Providence Friars men's basketball coaches Sacramento Kings head coaches Seton Hall Preparatory School alumni Sportspeople from Queens, New York Worcester Academy alumni