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
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 82, , 28, , 54, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
, , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 24, , 11, , 13, , , , style="text-align:center;", (fired), , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", —
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 82, , 33, , 49, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in
Northwest, , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 82, , 40, , 42, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Northwest, , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 82, , 46, , 36, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Northwest, , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 82, , 54, , 28, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Northwest, , 14, , 7, , 7, ,
, style="text-align:center;", Lost in
Conference Semi-finals
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 73, , 46, , 27, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Northwest, , 19, , 9, , 10, ,
, style="text-align:center;", Lost in
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. ...
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 72, , 47, , 25, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Northwest, , 10, , 4, , 6, ,
, style="text-align:center;", Lost in
Conference Semi-finals
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, style="text-align:left;",
, 82, , 48, , 34, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Northwest, , 5, , 1, , 4, ,
, style="text-align:center;", Lost in
First Round
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career, , 661, , 353, , 308, , , , , , 48, , 21, , 27, , , ,
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