Brendan Malone, a longtime NBA coach and the father of Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, has died, the team announced Tuesday. He was 81.
Malone won two NBA championships as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990, and he was on the Orlando Magic coaching staff that won an Eastern Conference title in 2009. He was instrumental in designing and coaching the “Bad Boy” Pistons’ “Jordan Rules,” widely regarded as one of the most effective defensive strategies against Michael Jordan in his prime.
Malone had stints in various roles with the Knicks, Pistons, Raptors, Pacers, SuperSonics, Cavaliers and Magic over the course of a 30-year career in the NBA.