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NBA: Ranking every active head coach by playing career

By Corey Rausch

March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michael Malone
Michael Malone (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

Every NBA head coach ranked by playing career: 22. Michael Malone

Now moving on from a coach whose father coached in college to a coach whose father coached in the NBA, Michael Malone actually played at the Division I level. Malone went to the University of Loyola Maryland. Over the course of a four-year career, he would start 39 games and posted a line of 3.5 points, 2.6 assists and 0.7 steals per game in 18.5 minutes.

It’s clearly a low bar for this level of production to be this close to making it out of the bottom 10 on this list but he has exceeded this level as a coach with the Denver Nuggets. Even as he was playing and completing his degree, Malone had already transitioned into coaching as an assistant in high school.

He would then take assistant jobs at Oakland University, Providence, Manhattan College, the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets and Golden State Warriors. He got a one-year run as the head coach for the Sacramento Kings where he bonded with star DeMarcus Cousins prior to the Kings deciding to move on surprisingly.

Malone has been the coach of the Denver Nuggets since 2015 and has turned the team around. He has also been a consultant for the Serbian National team.