Michael Malone had a roller-coaster career from cleaning ‘urinals’ to coaching in NBA Finals: All you need to know

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone has led the franchise to their first NBA Finals appearance this season. But it's a long road from high school coach to the biggest stage in basketball.

Malone, who has been coaching in the league since 2001, was an assistant with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets and Golden State Warriors. He was finally promoted to a head coaching gig with the Sacramento Kings. He was fired shortly into his second season with the team.

After being hired to helm the Nuggets in 2015, Michael Malone has led them to the playoffs in five straight seasons.

The Daily Coach

@TheDaily_Coach

Michael Malone will coach in his first NBA Finals game tonight.

But in 1995, he almost quit coaching to become a Secret Service agent.

"I could be working for the treasury department doing detail for the President and getting shot at,” he said.

Here’s his crazy career story 🧵

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Michael Malone will coach in his first NBA Finals game tonight.

But in 1995, he almost quit coaching to become a Secret Service agent.

"I could be working for the treasury department doing detail for the President and getting shot at,” he said.

Here’s his crazy career story 🧵 https://t.co/7Mg3DjNPTB

How many stops did it take for Malone to make it to the top?

His journey to the top of the coaching profession has been a long one. Malone himself said he almost quit at one point to be a Secret Service agent.

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"I could be working for the treasury department doing detail for the President and getting shot at,” Malone said.

Malone’s journey to becoming an NBA coach began long before he could dribble a basketball. Malone’s father, Brendan, was a longtime NBA coach. He worked many years as an assistant and was the head coach for the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers at points in his career.

Rachel Nichols

@Rachel__Nichols

Both Erik Spoelstra & Michael Malone note that their franchises stuck with them through tough seasons, and how valuing consistency overall is part of what got their teams to the Finals. Spoelstra: "I would have been fired 4 or 5 times already" in a different organization.

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Both Erik Spoelstra & Michael Malone note that their franchises stuck with them through tough seasons, and how valuing consistency overall is part of what got their teams to the Finals. Spoelstra: "I would have been fired 4 or 5 times already" in a different organization.

Malone played college basketball at Loyola-Maryland. He had a modest career and began coaching at the high school ranks following his graduation.

Malone then took a promotion to be an assistant at the University of Oakland. However, the job was unpaid and Malone worked in a shopping mall Foot Locker and with an office cleaning crew on the side to pay the bills. Part of his responsibilities included cleaning the urinals.

He decided to quit coaching and applied alongside his friend to the Secret Service, which protects the U.S. President. He was rejected.

Malone was set to enter the police force before getting a call to be an assistant at Providence College. The job was paid this time, allowing Malone to continue his coaching career.

Pete Gillen was Providence's coach and was one of 75 coaches Malone wrote to asking for a job. Malone followed Gillen to Providence and then Virginia and then Manhattan College.

Malone pivoted to the NBA from Manhattan College and found a spot downtown on the bench in Madison Square Garden as an assistant for the Knicks. He has been working his way up the NBA ladder ever since. Last season, Malone and the Nuggets agreed to a contract extension.

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