Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone almost made drastic career decision before guiding team to NBA Finals
IT is no secret that Mike Malone is one of the best coaches in the NBA.
But it may come as a surprise to learn that the Denver Nuggets head coach almost joined the Secret Service before he began his coaching career.
After graduating from Loyola University Maryland as a student athlete in 1994, Malone decided to follow in his father Brendan's footsteps and become a basketball coach.
Malone Sr. had a long and distinguished career at the high school, college and pro ranks, highlighted by winning two NBA championship rings with the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990.
He was also the founder of the infamous 'Jordan Rules', which briefly put a pause on Michael Jordan's ascent in the late 1980s.
Malone began his career as an unpaid volunteer assistant at Oakland University in Michigan.
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At the same time, he worked at a local Foot Locker and cleaned office buildings from midnight until 4am.
“After probably four or five months of that, I said to myself, ‘What am I doing? This isn’t what I planned,’ ” Malone told the Denver Post.
“I did not want to feel like a ship at sea with no direction.”
Malone's family had a background in law enforcement, with his grandfather and some of his uncles and cousins serving as police officers.
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He was persuaded by a friend to apply for the Secret Service.
Secret Service agents provide physical protection for high-level members of the government.
They also investigate financial crimes like fraud, counterfeiting and identity theft.
Although he was not initially selected, Malone applied to become a state trooper in Michigan, with the hope that it would enable him to ultimately join the Secret Service.
As he began preparing for the physical and written exam, Malone received a call from Pete Gillen, then the head coach at Providence, to see if he was interested in a paid assistant coaching job.
It would change his life completely.
Malone quickly accepted and took the next step in a long coaching career that led to assistant jobs at the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors before he became head coach of the Sacramento Kings in 2013.
After joining the Nuggets in 2015, Malone has led the team to the playoffs ever since the 2018-19 season, with the franchise reaching its inaugural NBA Finals this year where they face the Miami Heat.
It could have been all so different were it not for that phone call from Gillen.
"As Yogi Berra said, 'I came to a fork in the road and I picked it up'," Malone told CBS Sports.
"Michael was two weeks away from going to the barracks when Pete Gillen, the coach at Providence College, called the house," Malone Sr. recalled.
"I thought he wanted to talk to me and Pete said, 'no I want to talk to Michael.'
"He offered Michael a job. Michael didn’t go to the Secret Service."
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Asked what kind of secret agent Malone would have been, his father said: "Well, he’s a serious guy.
"I’ll just say he would’ve taken the job very seriously and been someone you wouldn’t want to mess with."