Will the Knicks hire a recently fired NBA coach to replace Tom Thibodeau?
New York “could be a good landing spot” for former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, one person close to Malone who was not authorized to speak publicly for him told NJ Advance Media.
“His children are grown and if he wants to coach again it could be a good landing spot,” the person said.
Along with Malone, other names linked to the opening include former Knicks assistant and current Cleveland Cavaliers associate head coach Johnnie Bryant (who is also a contender for the Phoenix Suns opening), former Villanova coach Jay Wright, UConn coach Dan Hurley, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson and former Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.
Malone, 53, was born in Queens, N.Y. and played point guard at Seton Hall Prep for two years while his father, Brendan Malone, was a Knicks assistant under Hubie Brown.
Michael always looked up to his father, who died in October 2023 at 88 — a driving force behind the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” defenses in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Michael recalls being in the car on recruiting trips when Brendan was a college coach recruiting legendary New York City guards like Dwayne “The Pearl” Washington at Boys and Girls High School, Mark Jackson at Bishop Loughlin and Kenny Smith at Archbishop Molloy.
“I was going to those games with my father, and I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Michael Malone told NJ Advance Media in 2024. “We shared that passion.”
During his coaching career with Sacramento and Denver, Malone went 510-394, leading the Nuggets to the NBA title in 2023.
Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke fired the winningest coach in team history in April because he did not feel the team was heading in the right direction. The move sent shockwaves through the NBA.
Malone ended up doing TV work for ESPN during the NBA playoffs, while interim head coach David Adelman ended up leading Denver to the Western Conference semifinals, where they lost to Oklahoma City in seven games. Adelman was ultimately named the full-time coach.
Now Malone could find himself coaching the Knicks after the team parted ways with Thibodeau on Tuesday. Thibodeau coached the team for five years, leading the team to back-to-back 50-win seasons and its first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years.
“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” team President Leon Rose said in a statement. “This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we’ve decided to move in another direction.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.
