Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has suffered a family tragedy just weeks before the start of the NBA season.
The Nuggets announced on Tuesday that Malone’s father Brendan died at the age of 81. Like his son, Brendan was a longtime head coach in the NBA.
“Coach Brendan Malone was a great man who left behind a great legacy in the world of basketball,” the Nuggets’ statement read in part. “But he will be remembered even more for the amazing husband, father, son, and grandfather that he was and the profound impact he had on the family, friends, and colleagues who were lucky enough to know him.”
You can read the full statement below.
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 10, 2023
Brendan had a very long career as a coach in both the NCAA and the NBA. He was an assistant in the 1970s and 1980s for Fordham, Yale, and Syracuse before becoming the head coach for Rhode Island from 1984-86. Brendan then made the jump to the Association, coaching as an assistant for the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons (including for the Pistons’ back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990). He would next go on to become an NBA head coach, serving as the very first head coach in Toronto Raptors team history from 1995-96 before returning to NBA assistant coaching for the next two decades through 2016.
Michael would follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming an NBA head coach himself, first with the Sacramento Kings and now with the Nuggets. Mike Singer of the Denver Post shared a little bit on the close relationship between father and son.
The first person Michael Malone called after the Nuggets won the championship was his father. Brendan tried to dissuade Michael from pursuing coaching but Michael caught the bug. They’d text daily about what Brendan was seeing from afar. A tremendous loss for Michael and the NBA. https://t.co/lMth72C7TP
— Mike Singer (@msinger) October 10, 2023
Brendan got to see his son become an NBA champion this past summer with Michael leading the Nuggets to their first-ever title in franchise history (and having the time of his life while doing so). Denver’s championship defense formally begins on Oct. 24, and Michael is sure to dedicate the coming season to the memory of his father.
