Michael Malone explains why he took North Carolina job instead of returning to NBA
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Michael Malone’s stunning hire as North Carolina‘s men’s basketball head coach sent shockwaves across the college landscape.
For starters, Malone hasn’t coached at the college level since 2001, his final season as an assistant at Manhattan before taking a job with the New York Knicks. More importantly, he is the first person to have neither played for nor been an assistant with the program to be named its head coach since Frank McGuire took the reins in 1952 after five seasons at St. John’s. (Malone’s daughter plays volleyball at UNC, so there is a connection, but you get the idea.)
After being fired from the Denver Nuggets with three games remaining in his 10th season — and two years removed from the team’s first championship — Malone now takes the helm of one of the blue bloods of college basketball, and as the sport’s second-highest-paid head coach, at that. So why UNC instead of seeking another NBA gig?
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but what I kept thinking about was I have a chance to be a part of something special,” the 54-year-old said. “The history, tradition, to be a part of something much bigger than myself, as I said a few minutes ago. This was the only college job I’d ever considered. If (it were) any other job, I wouldn’t even answer the phone.”
Malone described North Carolina athletic director-in-waiting Steve Newmark, who will take over in June as Bubba Cunningham transitions to an advisory role, as “persistence defined.”
“I made a decision. I felt good about it. And Steve said, ‘Can we fly to your house on Easter Sunday?’ And we spent five hours together, along with (men’s basketball director of operations) Eric Hoots,” Malone said. “Had a great meeting, and my dog didn’t bite him, so we knew he was okay.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
