The University of North Carolina made a splash with its new men’s basketball coach on Monday, bringing in a name that wasn’t on the radar as far as favorites by hiring former NBA champion head coach Michael Malone to replace Hubert Davis.
“Sources: North Carolina intends to hire longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the school’s next basketball coach,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel wrote on his official X account. “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.”
“An NBA coach to UNC … just not the one everyone thought,” NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account.
The Nuggets made history in 2025 when they fired Malone with just 3 games left in the regular season – the latest in a regular season any NBA head coach has ever been fired.
Davis was fired by UNC after 5 seasons and going 24-9 in 2025-26, including a 1st round exit in the NCAA Tournament. Davis, who led the Tar Heels to a Final Four appearance in 2024, played for the Tar Heels from 1988 to 1992 and was a 1st round pick by the New York Knicks in the 1992 NBA draft.
Malone would have been a prime candidate for any number of NBA openings this offseason, but instead heads to the college ranks.
Tracking Path to Becoming UNC Head Coach
Malone, 54 years old, is a Queens, New York, native who played guard for Loyola (Maryland) before going directly into coaching in the college ranks, spending 7 seasons as an assistant coach for Oakland, Providence, Manhattan, and Virginia, before breaking into the NBA as an assistant coach with the New York Knicks in 2001.
Malone spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach for the Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets, and Golden State Warriors before being hired as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings in 2013. Malone went 28-54 in his 1st season before he was fired just 24 games into his 2nd season.
The Nuggets hired Malone in 2015, and in 10 seasons as head coach, he went 471-327, including leading his team to the first NBA championship in franchise history following the 2023 season.
Malone was fired by owner Josh Kroenke after an ongoing Cold War between himself and former general manager Calvin Booth that created a toxic environment within the franchise, including a 12-13 record after the 2025 All-Star break.
Booth also ended up fired.
“In interviews with more than a dozen team and league insiders, a theme quickly emerged: Not only was this war between Malone and Booth toxic for the two men, but it had infected the entire organization,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Ramona Shelbourne wrote in April 2025. “For the better part of two years, winning had hidden the toxins coursing through the Nuggets. Then they started losing. Kroenke made the decision to fire Malone and Booth late Sunday night, sources told ESPN. It wasn’t the first time this season that Kroenke seriously pondered parting ways with the winningest coach in franchise history and the executive who had put together the final pieces of the Nuggets’ championship puzzle. Kroenke wanted to clean house at the All-Star break, sources said, but an eight-game winning streak spared Malone and Booth.”
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