Nobody saw this coming. Not a soul... The North Carolina Tar Heels have finally ended their head-coaching search. While it looked like Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan had emerged as the latest favorite, UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham could not wait another week. He opted to hire former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone off the street, shocking everybody alive.
ESPN's Pete Thamel was the one who broke the internet with the wildest head-coaching hire in years.
Sources: North Carolina intends to hire longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the school’s next basketball coach. He’s an NBA Championship coach with the Denver Nuggets from the 2022-23 season and has won 510 games as an NBA head coach. pic.twitter.com/JwJmUNRLQT
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 6, 2026
Naturally, all of social media lathered itself up into a frenzy over this outside-the-box hire for UNC.
Social media could not handle UNC hiring Michael Malone as head coach
There were a few things at the front of everyone's mind when it came to North Carolina hiring Malone.
The 54 year old Michael Malone has never been a college head coach. He was last in the college ranks as an assistant at Manhattan in 2001.
— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) April 6, 2026
The Magic were planning to pursue Michael Malone to be their next head coach, if they faltered in playoff contention with Jamahl Mosley.
— Michael Hultman (@TheHultmanBeat) April 6, 2026
Not mad at Michael Malone tbh
— Daddy Warbucks (@Dopeitskush) April 6, 2026
The Magic were planning to pursue Michael Malone to be their next head coach, if they faltered in playoff contention with Jamahl Mosley.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) April 6, 2026
With Malone shockingly off to North Carolina instead, Orlando must now pivot on their future priority list with Mosley square on the hot seat. pic.twitter.com/TbnaIv1Stq
Malone has not coached in the college game in over a quarter century, but he had other prospects...
UNC IS HIRING MICHAEL MALONE???? LIKE DENVER LEGEND MICHAEL MALONE??? LIKE THIS MICHAEL MALONE??? pic.twitter.com/93trDBvQXT
— Avery Hamel (@avcoleham) April 6, 2026
Michael Malone?! Really?! That’s the answer? Bro UNC is so cooked.
— charlotte flair’s baby daddy (@VICKAMANIA_) April 6, 2026
Michael Malone ?!?
— Swaggy P (@_JoshyFBabyy) April 6, 2026
Michael Malone to unc seems like it’s gonna go really bad more than it’ll go really great as a gut reaction
— Scott King (@cardscott5) April 6, 2026
If the Orlando Magic were to move on from Jamahl Mosley, he would have been their top candidate.
That UNC Michael Malone hire is one of the wildest I've seen. Completely out of thin air.
— jamfan40 (@jamfan40) April 6, 2026
Michael Malone to North Carolina. UNC will be a little more angry than previous coaches. pic.twitter.com/aRnUiVE4ya
— Trent McGee (@stmcgee) April 6, 2026
Hubert Davis would of been a better hire than Michael Malone for the UNC Job.
— Frenk (@FrenkPS) April 6, 2026
Michael Malone to UNC. That’ll be interesting
— Eliminat0r85 (@eliminat0r85) April 6, 2026
Right now, everyone is trying to figure out if it will work with Malone at UNC, but no one has a clue...
Michael Malone has a championship pedigree after his stellar NBA career
Even though Doug Moe was innovative on offense, Malone is the greatest head coach in Nuggets history. He led the team to its only NBA championship in franchise history three years ago. Under his watch, Nikola Jokic went from a second-round pick to being one of the greatest players of his generation. Malone was let go after last NBA season with a 47-25 mark. He is only 54 years old, too.
In his NBA head-coaching career split between Denver (2015-25) and Sacramento (2013-15), Malone amassed a 510-394 record overall and a 44-36 record in the postseason. Winning big in Denver is not easy. In fact, nobody has done that for a longer stretch than him. Malone may be a fiery presence on the sidelines, but if he can recruit, this could be to the benefit of the Tar Heels long term.
Overall, this was such a complete and total shock to the system that nobody knows what direction is up or down any more. All we know is UNC hiring Malone was completely out of nowhere, but he does have a proven track record at the game's highest level at a place that is not easy to win at. Either Cunningham is off his rocker, or UNC has found its next championship-caliber head coach in Malone.
To think this is wilder than UNC hiring Bill Belichick perhaps best illustrates what all just happened.