Brendan Malone given Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact award

Brendan Malone, whose coaching careerspanned six decades, is the recipient of the 2023 Tex WinterAssistant Coach Lifetime Impact award, the National BasketballCoaches Association announced today.

“Brendan Malone has been a namesynonymous with NBA success for many decades,” said Rick Carlisle,Indiana Pacers head coach and NBCA president. “He's helped developplayers and young coaches, and been a multiple NBA champion onChuck Daly's Detroit coaching staff in 1989 and 1990. Congrats toCoach Malone on this prestigious recognition.”

“I want to thank the NationalBasketball Coaches Association for this award,” Malone said. “TexWinter was a man I got to know and respect. I also want to thankall of the head coaches that I enjoyed working with during my29-year career in the NBA, in particular Hubie Brown who brought meinto the league; Chuck Daly and our two championships; the VanGundys, Stan and Jeff, and Don Chaney. Lastly, I want to thank mywife Maureen and our six children for sharing my journey.”

Wetting his whistle with a few yearsof coaching CYO basketball, Malone began his coaching career in1967 at the legendary Power Memorial Academy in New York City wherehe won three city championships and three Coach of the Yearawards.

He then moved to the college ranks in1976 as an assistant coach at Fordham, then Yale, and thenSyracuse. At Syracuse, the Orange went to the NCAA Tournament fourtimes. Malone was a Syracuse assistant for the first five years ofthe Big East. He left Syracuse to become head coach at theUniversity of Rhode Island (URI) in 1984.

While at URI in 1986, Hubie Brownrecruited Malone to join him as an assistant for the New YorkKnicks, the beginning of his 29-year NBA career. Malone had threedifferent tours with the Knicks, the most notable of which was thefour years with head coach Jeff Van Gundy. From 1996 to 2000, theKnicks went 177-119 with two Eastern Conference Finals appearances,as well as a trip to the 1999 NBA Finals.

Malone was an assistant coach for StanVan Gundy for five years (2007 to 2012) in Orlando. The Magic won50-plus games four straight years, went to the Eastern ConferenceFinals twice, and to the 2009 NBA Finals.

Malone was also an assistant coach forBob Hill and Rick Pitino in New York, Don Chaney in both Detroitand New York, Isiah Thomas in Indiana, Paul Silas in Cleveland andStan Van Gundy in Detroit. He was also a scout for the DetroitPistons.

But it was in Detroit with Chuck Dalythat Malone made his name, orchestrating the Jordan Rules defensethat helped propel the Pistons to back-to-back NBA championships in1989 and 1990.

Malone was the first head coach of theToronto Raptors in 1995-96 and also served as head coach of theCleveland Cavaliers for 18 games in 2004-05.

In 27 seasons of NBA coaching, teamsthat Malone coached went to the playoffs 20 times, to theConference Finals seven times, and to the NBA Finals four times,winning the title twice. His teams compiled a 1165-1001 record(.538).

Brendan and his son, Michael, who isthe head coach of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, are theonly father-son coaching duo to have both won an NBAchampionship.

“I want to thank the NBCA SelectionCommittee for acknowledging my father’s impact and career in theNBA,” Michael Malone said. “His work ethic, his love of the game,and his passion for teaching were the foundation of my coachingcareer. This is a well-deserved honor and I feel very fortunate tobe a part of this celebration.”

Brendan Malone was enshrined in theNew York Catholic High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in1993. In 1997, he was inducted into the Basketball Old-Timers ofAmerica Hall of Fame (which recognizes and honors individuals whohave made outstanding contributions to New York City basketball).He is a 2017 enshrinee in the Power Memorial Academy Hall ofFame.

“Assistant coaches generally operatebehind the scenes and almost never receive enough publicrecognition for their team’s success. However, any head coach willtell you that they are an indispensable part of the team equation,”said David Fogel, NBCA Executive Director and General Counsel.“Coach Malone’s contributions to the accomplishments of his teamsare well known inside the NBA and his contributions to the gamecontinue through his son Michael’s tremendous success.Congratulations to Brendan on this well-deserved honor.”

The NBCA Tex Winter Lifetime ImpactAward honors the tremendous achievements and commitment ofHall-of-Famer Tex Winter, who set a standard of innovation,integrity, competitive excellence, loyalty, and tireless promotionof NBA basketball throughout the course of his outstanding NBAcoaching career.

The award is selected annually by theNBCA Selection Committee, comprised of some of the most respectedcoaches and executives in the game, including Rick Adelman, HubieBrown, Doug Collins, Wayne Embry, Danny Ferry, Mike Fratello,George Karl, Doc Rivers, Rod Thorn and Lenny Wilkens.

This year’s nominees includedassistant coaches Bob Beyer, Dan Burke, Jeff Bzdelik, GordonChiesa, Carroll Dawson, Hank Egan, Jim Eyen, Brian Hill, Jim Lynam,Bob McAdoo, Brendan Suhr and Bob Weiss.

Prior recipients of this award are RonAdams (2022), Dick Helm (2021), Bill Bertka (2019), Tim Grgurich(2018), Ron Rothstein (2017) and Phil Johnson (2016).