Imago
Credits: Imagn
Imago
Credits: Imagn
Once more the Tar Heels have overturned every expectation. But this one with the Athletic Department’s hiring decision. As the NCAA Tournament wrapped, the UNC men’s basketball team named its new coach; Michael Malone. He of course comes with NBA championship legacy, particularly coaching The Joker and the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 title till the most shocking playoff firing. Getting NBA creds is not a bad thing. However, certain Tar Heel legends were skeptical.
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Kenny “The Jet” Smith is one of the most famous products from Chapel Hill, besides Michael Jordan, of course. And he was keeping a keen eye on UNC’s hunt for its next coach. His name may have been in the hat even. He however wanted someone knee deep in Tar Heel culture for the top job.
“I didn’t like the fact that we would have had to poach from someone else. I actually expressed that. I didn’t feel that, oh, go get this coach from somewhere else,” Smith confessed during TNT’s broadcast at the National Championship.
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New York-born Malone has grown up in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, a product of Loyola Maryland, and whose closest connection to North Carolina was a near undefeated record against the Charlotte Hornets since 2021. He didn’t meet The Jet‘s criteria at first glance.
“He has a resume that no one else in college basketball has.”@TheJetOnTNT gives his thoughts on reports of Michael Malone becoming the next head coach at North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/SqgNzv5dvc
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) April 6, 2026
However, his stance softened upon recalling that Malone indeed has a Tar Heel connection. “The other thing is Mike Malone’s daughter is a volleyball player at University of North Carolina. When we were doing ESPN together in LA this year, he was walking around with a Tar Heel shirt on and I’m like, I didn’t understand it. So, he is a member of the Tar Heel. He’s been drafted in. He been drafted in by his daughter playing volleyball.”
Bridget Malone is the originator of the Malone-Chapel Hill legacy. Considering Mike missed the NBA Cup game to attend her state tournament match at UNC, he’s a bona fide Tar Heel by proxy long before he got the job.
Kenny Smith is excited for Tar Heels’ Michael Malone era
Notorious Nikola Jokic fan and Denver Nuggets cheerleader, Kenny Smith emphasized that Mike Malone brings a pedigree rarely seen in college ball, beyond the family ties.
“The other part about it, I just think that he’s a winner… he has a resume that no one in college basketball has. He’s an NBA champion,” Smith noted about Malone’s 2023 title run with the Denver Nuggets. Malone arrives in Chapel Hill with a resume that speaks for itself. Not only a championship, but turning a second round draft pick into one of the best players in the league right now makes him uniquely qualified.
“And reminder, he had the Joker who is the number one player in basketball, but was drafted 41. So he helped develop Joker into the Joker and now that is what’s big in college basketball: development as well.”
Malone’s hiring also signals the need for the NBA expertise at the college level with NIL and transfer portal mimicking aprons and free agency. His resume, experience, and the family connection, Kenny Smith can rest easy his Tar Heels are in good hands.
