Golden State Warriors hire assistant coach Mike Malone – NBA Update
One of the leading assistant coaches in NBA, Mike Malone has joined the Golden State Warriors. Malone will assist recently hired head coach Mark Jackson. The Warriors issued the statement on Tuesday in which they declared the news
and with this hiring; the six week search has eventually come to end.
Malone was hired a few hours after the Warriors reached an accord with Jackson. He has signed a three year contract with the Warriors. The worth of the agreement has not been disclosed as yet. Earlier Malone had served as the assistant
coach of the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers (for five seasons) and was presently working with the New Orleans Hornets.
Jackson was very glad with the selection of Malone and said, "First and foremost, it's a great day. Mike Malone is a guy that I've known for quite some time. I have tremendous respect for his passion, his knowledge, his commitment.
He's an extremely loyal guy, so it's a big-time hire for us."
Malone is well known for his defensive tactics and is considered as an authority in this facet. The emergence of the Hornets as the eight best defensive teams this season as compared to their above twenty position last season is
a testament of his influence in the backcourt. The 40 year assistant will now help Jackson in removing the defensive kinks of a side that thrives on offence.
Malone’s appointment has come as a big blow for the newly appointed Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown. Malone had served with Brown for five years in the LeBron James era and he was trying to assemble his old crew back at Los
Angeles. Brown is also very interested in bringing the former Detroit Pistons coach John Kuester as his assistant along with the Italian basketball coach Ettore Messina. According to the reports it was Brown, who convinced Messina to become a full time consultant
with the Lakers.
Jackson however said that Malone has always been in his scheme of things, "He was a guy I targeted throughout the course of not just this process, but when I've interviewed before. We had an understanding that I'd come after him.
It's truly a great day in Warrior land to get a guy like Mike."
Malone’s father Brendan Malone is the current assistant coach of the Orlando Magic. In the 2008-09 season when Malone was appointed as the defensive specialist, the Cavaliers won 66 games out of their 82 and set the franchise record
of most wins. In the same regular-season, Cleveland ended up as the best defensive squad in the entire league, giving away just 91.4 points in each game.
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