TyposIncoming | Lakers

94 | 4 hours ago

Will be interesting to see how Malone refuses to play young guys on a college roster

butidktho_ | NBA

41 | 4 hours ago

8 5th year seniors in the rotation. Easy work.

preddevils6 | Grizzlies

13 | 4 hours ago

Indiana blueprint

Sanmonov | Nuggets

11 | 4 hours ago

I never really understood how this became a thing. He essentially played every young player that deserved to play with a couple exceptions.

Feisty-Bad5564

4 | 4 hours ago

Lmao

not__a__consultant

39 | 4 hours ago

Ugh as a bulls fan I wanted them to take Billy Donovan lol

JoeBiden2020FTW | Lakers

10 | 4 hours ago

Isn’t Donovan considered pretty good?

Carries AKME to the play-in every year, that’s pretty impressive no?

Appropriate_Book_591

0 | 3 hours ago

Lmao if you think playin ceiling is good then yes.

s0da_pressed | 76ers

0 | 2 hours ago

“he’s a good coach…” yet there’s always a Kyle Lowry sized “…but” afterwards

snowlarbear

22 | 4 hours ago

first reporter to call him Mike is going to get banned for life

IcyMission3 | Celtics

20 | 4 hours ago

Imagine telling a UNC student 2023 that Bill Belichick and Mike Malone would be your future team’s coaches

BurnerAccountforAss | 76ers

13 | 3 hours ago

School is called “Unc” for a reason I guess

LKMagnesium | Bulls

10 | 4 hours ago

No! Please take Billy Donovan

AceMcStace | Trail Blazers

7 | 4 hours ago

This really is such a random hire for UNC, will Mike have his heart in the recruiting process?

NoJackfruit1030

6 | 4 hours ago

well his daughter is a student there i believe… field hockey, and Malone is a Long Island guy I believe which shouldn’t be but it is significant or ‘not nothing’ just because UNC is pretty known to hit the Tristate area pretty hard when recruiting

HopeishWanderer | Celtics

3 | 3 hours ago

Mike’s from Astoria, Queens, not Long Island.

NoJackfruit1030

5 | 3 hours ago

Gotcha, makes even more sense

ColdCocking | Hornets

4 | 4 hours ago

My first reaction was “Ew, I don’t want him” but I guess he deserves a shot

running_wired

15 | 4 hours ago

What did Malone do that would warrant him not getting a shot?

Other than stealing those candy bars that is.

danjustin | Nuggets

6 | 4 hours ago

As a Nuggets fan that agreed with his firing, any NBA team would have improved if they hired him.

But there is legit questions about his fit in the college game, especially today’s environment.

It’s a bit like Belichick, a bit old school, brash, intense but in a way that is different from Hurley. Not sure how that fits with the college game. On the flip side, going back to DeMarcus Cousins, I don’t think any player truly disliked Malone.

running_wired

0 | 4 hours ago

No coach is a sure thing. It’s always a risk…. That isn’t the same as commenting ‘Ew’.

Commenter I responded to made it seem like Malone had moral issues or something. Like he needed a second change and damaged goods….

gedbybee | Spurs

0 | 4 hours ago

The spurs are fine with Mitch Johnson and pop before that. Miami, Indiana, and the Celtics also have better head coaches than Malone. Okc would say they’re better off cuz they just won a chip.

I do agree that Malone is better than most of the other coaches tho.

Why did you want Malone fired?

danjustin | Nuggets

1 | 3 hours ago

Well, I meant anyone who would have a job opening…not that championship teams would fire their coach for him (Like the Knicks).

It was clear he lost the respect/direction of the team. The best way I’ve seen it explained, his intense leadership was exactly what Denver needed as babies, but the babies grew into adults and needed to be treated differently. Basically, he was perfect to be the voice while Jokic and Murray figured out how to be leaders, but when it was time to become leaders, it created a divide across the roster.

I think the whole Malone hates young guys narrative is wrong, but his leadership style created a gap: vets had little accountability (including Jokic and Murray, but also AG and Westbrook) while young guys got benched for the same mistakes.

ColdCocking | Hornets

-3 | 4 hours ago

Really bad at Player Development. Which is probably bad for college

Sanmonov | Nuggets

4 | 4 hours ago

Other than all the players that developed under him? Jokic, Jamal, MPJ, Monte Morris, Garry Harris, Will Barton, Chrsitan Braun etc?

running_wired

0 | 4 hours ago

He didn’t turn Zeke into an All Star so hes a failure. Literally all some can see for some reason.

Sanmonov | Nuggets

1 | 4 hours ago

The amount of organizational and fan bandwidth that went towards these guys, was so unserious. The possibility that these players weren’t good never entered peoples minds somehow.

A year removed we see DA resort to 4 guard lineups rather than play Zeke, and Pickett still firmly outside the rotation.

running_wired

2 | 3 hours ago

Those people will just point to Peyton, ignoring the fact he’s getting completely normal 4 year minutes progression.

Sanmonov | Nuggets

0 | 3 hours ago

Well, that is just dumb. Watson had played the 4th most minutes in his draft class before this year.

IllegitimateRisk | Nuggets

1 | 4 hours ago

The first thing Adelman said when he was installed as head coach was that he was gonna test out a bunch of different lineups…. The chaos of the season due to injuries just helped him follow that goal

Sanmonov | Nuggets

2 | 3 hours ago

Seems like everyone agrees Zeke is not a rotation player other than Calvin Booth, and some subset of the fan base hanging on to a melting ice cube.

running_wired

1 | 4 hours ago

Head coaches in 2026 manage programs and games. Assistants development players. And most players that UNC will target have full support systems behind them as well.

Efficient_Buy4031 | Wizards

4 | 4 hours ago

you were supposed to be a Wizard, Michael!

the_dark_viper | United States

1 | 4 hours ago

This is going to be a great move or an unmitigated disaster.

DollarLate_DayShort | WAS

0 | 4 hours ago

I mean… college is essentially the minors now, it could work out

[deleted]

0 | 4 hours ago

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TheMongolianLemonade | Nets

0 | 4 hours ago

Why would he leave his cushy, low-stakes position where he makes millions just talking about the game of basketball with his friends of 20-30 years.

RealRaifort | Warriors

0 | 4 hours ago

Donovan feels like it would’ve been a safer bet for UNC and taking that job makes more sense for him than Malone who’ll certainly get another NBA call soon. Bizarre.

starvs

0 | 4 hours ago

Good. For some reasons Wizards fan wanted him, I wanted no part in that, glad that’s off the table.

Sanmonov | Nuggets

2 | 4 hours ago

He’s a good coach and a good culture setter. I think he would have been good for you guys.

starvs

1 | 4 hours ago

Oh yeah I have no doubt he’s a good coach. I just don’t want him on the Wiz, which could be a big mistake on my part 🤷‍♂️.

dannyjkaplan

0 | 4 hours ago

He’s more of a college coach than an NBA coach in my opinion

BurnerAccountforAss | 76ers

0 | 4 hours ago

Awful hire

A guy named Michael has never and will never succeed at UNC

holyyguava | Hornets

0 | 3 hours ago

Oh wow. Seen some fans throw his name around as the coach they want for their team.

SPCsooprlolz | Jazz

0 | an hour ago

Interesting. Curious to see how this shakes out

Unlucky-Rich-4387 | Nuggets

0 | an hour ago

I think he’s going to be a good hire for UNC. Though you never know how well these NBA guys will adapt to college, especially now with the transfer portal and recruiting. I’ll be rooting for him though

heat_fan_ | Raptors

-1 | 4 hours ago

Wanted them to take Donovan damnn

[Thamel] Sources: North Carolina intends to hire longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the school’s next basketball coach. He’s an NBA Championship coach with the Denver Nuggets from the 2022-23 season and has won 510 games as an NBA head coach.