By R.L. Bynum
Michael Malone got overwhelming support from the coach who succeeded him with the Denver Nuggets and the star that helped him win an NBA title.
Nuggets head coach David Adelman, who succeeded Malone late in the 2024–25 season, said he was happy to hear the news that Malone was becoming North Carolina’s coach.
“I was super excited for him when I read it,” said Adelman, who was an assistant coach under Malone in Denver for eight seasons. “Very unexpected, just because I hadn’t heard anything about that.”
Adelman emphasized that the opportunity went far beyond wins and losses, pointing to the significance of the North Carolina job itself and Malone’s personal connection to the school.
“But not just the basketball part — which is a historic job to take — but just the cool part of his daughter going to school there and all of the elements to it,” Adelman said.
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With college basketball evolving rapidly in the NIL era, Adelman said Malone’s intensity and experience made him a natural fit.
“Basketball in America has changed with the NIL and college. The hiring processes are different. The coaching pool is different. I just think it’s changed everything,” Adelman said. “And a guy like him, he’d be perfect for that job.”
Adelman underscored how Malone’s former players and staff in Denver felt about the move.
“For all of the guys that are here that have known him, we were all super-excited,” he said. “I’m just happy for him and his family. He belongs coaching, and that’s what he should be doing.”
Among those voices was Nikola Jokić, the three-time NBA MVP whose career is inseparable from Malone’s decade in Denver.
“I’m happy for coach. I wish him all the luck,” Jokic said (comments start at 14:21 in below video).
Jokić acknowledged the difference between the NBA and college basketball but made clear he believes Malone’s approach will translate.
“I think it’s a little bit different just because he was coaching NBA,” Jokić said. “He definitely has the poise and the brain to do it.”
What stood out most to Jokić was how Malone’s teaching instincts could flourish at the college level.
“I think he’s going to do a really good job,” Jokić said, “because I think he can actually coach the guys.”
Jokić added that Malone’s ability to slow things down and focus on fundamentals could be an advantage in Chapel Hill.
“I think he’s going to have time to coach the guys and teach them how to play the game the right way,” Jokić said.
The Nuggets have won 10 consecutive games and are 52–28, in third place in the Western Conference. They lost in the conference semifinals last season to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game series.
Former UNC star Cameron Johnson has started all 54 games he’s played for Denver since being acquired from Brooklyn in the offseason, averaging 12.2 points per game and making 43% of his 3-point attempts.
Photo via YouTube screenshot
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