 Malone in 2020 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1971-09-15)September 15, 1971 (age 54) Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | Loyola (Maryland) (1989–1993) |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career | 1993–present |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1993–1994 | Friends School of Baltimore (assistant) |
| 1994–1995 | Oakland (assistant) |
| 1995–1998 | Providence (assistant) |
| 1999–2001 | Manhattan (assistant) |
| 2001–2005 | New York Knicks (assistant) |
| 2005–2010 | Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant) |
| 2010–2011 | New Orleans Hornets (assistant) |
| 2011–2013 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| 2013–2014 | Sacramento Kings |
| 2015–2025 | Denver Nuggets |
| Career highlights | |
| As head coach: | |
Michael Malone (born September 15, 1971) is an American professionalbasketball coach who most recently served as the head coach for theDenver Nuggets of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently an analyst forESPN. He had also been the head coach of theSacramento Kings in 2013–2014. Malone previously served as an assistant coach of theNew York Knicks,Cleveland Cavaliers,New Orleans Hornets, andGolden State Warriors.
Born in theAstoria neighborhood of the New York City boroughQueens, Malone is the son ofBrendan Malone, a former NBA head coach.[1] Malone began his high school playing career atBishop Hendricken inWarwick, Rhode Island, from 1984–1986 while his father was head coach at theUniversity of Rhode Island.[2] He transferred toSeton Hall Preparatory School after his father joined theNew York Knicks coaching staff as an assistant.[2] Following graduation from Seton Hall, Malone attended prep school atWorcester Academy during the 1988–89 school year. He then attendedLoyola University Maryland, playing on theLoyola Greyhounds men's basketball team from 1989 to 1993.[3] He appeared in 107 games and started 39 of them as a point guard. He graduated in 1994 with a degree in history.[4] During his four seasons with the Greyhounds, Malone totaled 370 points, 279 assists, and 79 steals in 18.5 minutes per game.[5]
While completing his degree at Loyola, Malone was an assistant high school basketball coach atFriends School of Baltimore.[6] After graduating from Loyola, Malone joinedOakland University as an assistant coach forGolden Grizzlies men's basketball under coachGreg Kampe.[6] Malone was about to start training to join theMichigan State Police before getting a job offer fromProvidence College coachPete Gillen.[7] Malone was an assistant coach forProvidence Friars men's basketball from 1995 to 1998. In the 1998–99 season, Malone was director of men's basketball administration at theUniversity of Virginia.[6]
He later moved up to the NBA in 2001 as a coaching associate with theNew 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.[8] Malone later served as an assistant coach for theCleveland Cavaliers from2005 to2010. With Cleveland, Malone helped coach the Cavaliers to five consecutive playoff appearances, including the2007 Finals, and a franchise-record, league-best 66–16 season in the2008–09 season.[8] Malone was an assistant coach with theNew Orleans Hornets in the2010–11 season. Allowing a league-best 8.7 fewer points per game than the previous season, the Hornets had the most improved defense with Malone as assistant and made the 2011 Playoffs.[8]
TheGolden State Warriors hired Malone in the summer of 2011 as an assistant coach underMark Jackson.[7] In the2012–13 season, the Warriors improved from a 23–43 record to finish 47–35 and earn the team's first playoff berth since 2007.[9] As the sixth seed in the2013 playoffs, the Warriors upset the third-seedDenver Nuggets in the first round and lost to the eventualWestern Conference championSan Antonio Spurs in six games the next round.[8] Malone was reportedly the highest-paid NBA assistant coach in the2011–12 season.[7] In 2012, Malone was named the best assistant coach by the NBA general managers. After his departure, several Warriors, includingDraymond Green andStephen Curry, credited Malone as being a huge part of the team's success.[10]
On June 3, 2013, Malone was hired by majority ownerVivek Ranadivé as the new head coach of theSacramento Kings.[11] With the hiring, Malone and his father became the second father-son duo in NBA history, afterBill Musselman andEric Musselman, to head coach an NBA team.[12] On December 15, 2014, he was fired by the Kings after starting the 2014–15 season with an 11–13 win–loss record.[13]
On June 15, 2015, Malone was named the new head coach of theDenver Nuggets.[14] In the2018–19 season, he led the Nuggets to the second seed in the Western Conference, behind theGolden State Warriors, with a 54–28 record.[15] In the Nuggets first playoff berth in six seasons,[16] Denver defeated theSan Antonio Spurs in the first round in seven games,[17] before being eliminated in the semifinals by thePortland Trail Blazers, also in seven games.[18] On December 24, 2019, the Nuggets announced that they had agreed to a contract extension with Malone.[19] During the2020 playoffs in theNBA Bubble, the Nuggets would become the first team in league history to overcome multiple 3–1 deficits in a single postseason, defeating theUtah Jazz andLos Angeles Clippers in the first round and semifinals, respectively.[20][21] Despite the historic feat, Denver would be eliminated in the Western Conference finals by the eventual NBA champion, theLos Angeles Lakers, in five games.[22]
On March 23, 2022, Malone and the Nuggets reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension.[23] In the2022–23 season, outside of a few instances of being tied with theMemphis Grizzlies, the Nuggets held sole position of the top seed in the Western Conference from December 20 until the end of the regular season, earning Malone a secondAll-Star Game coaching gig in five years in the process.[24][25] The Nuggets defeated theMinnesota Timberwolves in five games in the first round before needing six games to outlastDevin Booker, newly acquiredKevin Durant and thePhoenix Suns in the conference semifinals to advance to their second Conference Finals in four seasons.[26] As in 2020, they were again be matched up withLeBron James,Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Denver went on to sweep the Lakers and advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.[27] It was also the first time a Nuggets team had ever swept an opponent in postseason history.[28]
In the2023 Finals, Denver faced theMiami Heat, the first eighth seed to reach the Finals since the1998–99 New York Knicks. Holding a 3–1 series advantage heading into Game 5, the Nuggets, who entered the game with a series shooting average of 37.6% from three-point range, shot a historically poor 6.7% from distance in the first half. Additionally, Denver committed 10 turnovers in the first half and missed 10 of their first 19 free throws. Despite their shooting struggles, the Nuggets came back from an early 10-point deficit to take an 83–76 lead with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter and would ultimately defeat Miami 94–89 at home to clinch the first championship title in their 47-year history.Nikola Jokić was named theFinals MVP.[29][30] On November 24, 2024, with a 127–102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Malone recorded his 433rd win with the Nuggets, surpassingDoug Moe for the most wins in franchise history.[31] On April 8, 2025, after four consecutive losses, the Nuggets fired Malone and announced that they would not extend general managerCalvin Booth's contract.[32] Malone's dismissal, 79 games into the season, tied the latest in-season change by any team in NBA history, and became the latest for a playoff team.[33][34]
In January 2020, Malone joined theSerbian national team coaching staff as a consultant for theOlympic Qualifying Tournament.[35][36][37]
After being fired by the Nuggets, Malone was named as a studio analyst forABC/ESPN.[38]
Malone and his wife have two children.[14]
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | 2013–14 | 82 | 28 | 54 | .341 | 4th inPacific | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Sacramento | 2014–15 | 24 | 11 | 13 | .458 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Denver | 2015–16 | 82 | 33 | 49 | .402 | 4th inNorthwest | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Denver | 2016–17 | 82 | 40 | 42 | .488 | 4th in Northwest | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Denver | 2017–18 | 82 | 46 | 36 | .561 | 5th in Northwest | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
| Denver | 2018–19 | 82 | 54 | 28 | .659 | 1st in Northwest | 14 | 7 | 7 | .500 | Lost inconference semifinals |
| Denver | 2019–20 | 73 | 46 | 27 | .630 | 1st in Northwest | 19 | 9 | 10 | .474 | Lost inconference finals |
| Denver | 2020–21 | 72 | 47 | 25 | .653 | 2nd in Northwest | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost inconference semifinals |
| Denver | 2021–22 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 2nd in Northwest | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost infirst round |
| Denver | 2022–23 | 82 | 53 | 29 | .646 | 1st in Northwest | 20 | 16 | 4 | .800 | WonNBA championship |
| Denver | 2023–24 | 82 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 2nd in Northwest | 12 | 7 | 5 | .583 | Lost inconference semifinals |
| Denver | 2024–25 | 79 | 47 | 32 | .595 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 904 | 510 | 394 | .564 | 80 | 44 | 36 | .550 | |||