Michael Malone was officially named as the next college basketball coach at North Carolina on Tuesday morning. He will reportedly take a significant pay cut in earning potential with his new role.
The 54-year-old chose not to pursue a return to the NBA to coach the Tar Heels.
There is not the same amount of money for coaches in college basketball as there is in the pros. Malone is not concerned with the finances.
Michael Malone made a lot of money in the NBA.
The Nuggets decided to move on from Malone at this exact time last year. It was the latest in-season coaching change by any team in NBA history. Denver was 79 games into the regular season and already clinched a spot the playoffs. A lack of defense and in-game adjustments ultimately led to his ouster.
Despite the breakup, Malone is the winningest coach in franchise history and an NBA Champion. He was getting paid an annual salary of ~$12 million per year before the sudden split, which made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league. Hoisting the trophy likely tripled his salary that next year.
If we were to estimate his total earnings as an NBA head coach, Malone likely made between $55 and $75 million in total between his time with the Nuggets and the Kings. The money was good!
There are eight current NBA head coaches who are currently on the hot seat:
- Tiago Splitter, Trail Blazers
- James Borrego, Pelicans
- Ime Udoka, Rockets
- Nick Nurse, 76ers
- Doc Rivers, Bucks
- Brian Keefe, Wizards
- Doug Christie, Kings
- Jamahl Mosley, Magic
All eight of those jobs could come open or none of them. We’ll see…
Should even one of them open up, it was expected that Malone would be on the short list of candidates. His name was going to be talked about a lot. No matter the team. No matter how many teams.
He likely would’ve been offered a salary between $10-12 million. Not anymore!
UNC’s new college basketball coach is taking a pay cut.
According to multiple reports, the the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees approved a new contract for Michael Malone on Tuesday afternoon. It will pay him more than $8.3 million per year over six years at a total of ~$50 million.
That makes him one of the top-five highest-paid coaches in college basketball. He is up there with guys like Bill Self, John Calipari, Dan Hurley and Nate Oats.
UNC was able to offer Malone more money than its other candidates because he did not have a buyout. To hire a coach away from another program would’ve required the university to pay out the school from which he was poached. Because Malone was previously unemployed, there is no one else to pay.
As we already discussed, the longtime NBA head coach was in consideration for other higher-paying jobs back in the professional ranks. Per Greg Barnes, Malone decided to take less money to “coach arguably the top program” in the college ranks.
If we are to do the math, he will make somewhere between $2 and $4 million less at UNC than in the NBA. That equates to approximately $10-20 million over five years.
Michael Malone has more than enough money in his bank account. He decided it was worth the $15ish million hit to go coach in Chapel Hill. Only time will tell whether he made the right choice!