Former Raptors coach lived in a hotel during whole tenure with team
When the Toronto Raptors first joined the NBA back in 1995, there definitely appeared to be the sense of an organization who was figuring things out on the fly.
Though it’s been nearly 30 years since that opening campaign, one of the remaining NBA people who have vivid memories of the team is Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
And that’s with good reason — his father Brendan was the franchise’s first-ever head coach upon its expansion to the league.
“I was an assistant coach in college at that time, and I was begging him to hire me — let me carry your bags, let me do something, let me be a part of this journey with you — and it just wasn’t the right time,” Malone recalled on Monday night with his Nuggets in town to face the Raptors.
And while the Raptors were still figuring things out as a franchise, their team’s coach couldn’t even figure out a permanent place to live.
“Of course, great memories. He lived in a hotel the whole year, and he bribed them to give him DirecTV so he could watch all the games in the NBA,” Malone added.
He also shared a memory of one of the team’s most iconic regular-season victories: knocking off the Bulls at the now-Rogers Centre in 1996, during a year when their opponents won a then-record 72 games.
“I remember coming up here when they were still in the SkyDome and they beat the Chicago Bulls. That’s when they had a curtain in the outfield and there were like 36,000 people here, and they beat the Bulls and [I remember] how excited he was. Great memory,” the younger Malone added. “And then, unfortunately, obviously, he got fired, and that was the rude awakening of coaching in the NBA. I know for him he would’ve loved to have a chance to continue building this.”
The elder Malone passed away in 2023 at the age of 81, just a few months after his son led the Nuggets to the NBA title.
After the Raptors let him go, Malone coached the Cleveland Cavaliers for 18 games in 2004-05 but mostly served as an assistant coach for the rest of his career. He coached exactly 100 games as an NBA head coach, finishing with a 29-71 record.
“There were some growing pains all across the organization. I can’t believe it’s 30 years. But, yeah, great memories and just very proud of the fact that my father was the first head coach in Raptors history,” Malone concluded.
The Raptors will continue to celebrate their 30th anniversary campaign throughout the regular season, continuing with Vince Carter’s jersey retirement ceremony this coming Saturday.