Mike Malone initially didn’t have any interest in the North Carolina men’s basketball coach opening.
During his introductory press conference Tuesday in Chapel Hill, Malone recalled one quick phone call with his daughter Bridget, a 6-foot-1 freshman volleyball player at UNC, that swayed him.
“My daughter Bridget, she said, ‘Dad I want you to come.’ So, I did,” Malone shared when asked about his daughter’s reaction to the news.
Malone, a former 12-year NBA head coach with the Kings (2013-14) and the Nuggets (2015-25), originally hesitated to take the UNC job because he didn’t want to steal to the spotlight from his daughter.
“She had called up she goes, ‘Hey, I’m hearing that our name is being mentioned. Do you have any interest?’ … I said, ‘I dont think so,'” Malone recalled.
“And she was [like], ‘You know, you should do it, you should come, that would be great.’ I just think she wanted to be near her mother a little bit more. And then when it got serious — and I mean this part sincerely, it’s not easy being my daughter. She was always known as coach Malone’s daughter … No, she’s Bridget Malone.
“When she came here she had her own place [and] her own space to be her. I’m so proud of her because this is a tremendous basketball tradition … but I should also mention it’s a tremendous school and that was one of the reasons she chose to come here because she’s a student athlete and the academics. And so, she had crushed it since she’s been here.
Mike Malone’s daughter Bridget (L) and his wife Jocelyn (R) at his introductory press conference after taking the head coach job at UNC on April 7, 2026. X/ACC Network “I asked her I said, ‘Listen, I don’t want to come here and crash your party … and I don’t want this to be something thats going to take away from your spotlight.'”
Bridget and her mom, Jocelyn, smiled while sitting in the room.
View this post on Instagram After that, Malone joked that he told Bridget she couldn’t hang out at the bars late night.
“You gotta make sure you’re getting out of the bars and handling yourself appropriately — and that’s from me and coach [Mike] Schall,” Malone said, referring to the UNC women’s volleyball coach.
Malone and his wife have another daughter, Caitlin.
Mike Malone at his introductory press conference after taking the head coach job at UNC on April 7, 2026. X/ACC Network Over Malone’s last seven NBA seasons, the Nuggets averaged 50.3 wins, including a franchise record-tying 57 in 2023-24, 54 in 2018-19 and 53 in 2022-23.
He led the team to its first NBA championship in 2023.
Malone spent another 12 years as an assistant with the New York Knicks (2001-05), Cleveland Cavaliers (2005-10), New Orleans Hornets (2010-11) and Golden State Warriors (2011-13).
