North Carolina shared a laughable Michael Malone 'player development' graphic

TL;DR

North Carolina's basketball program faced backlash for a graphic suggesting new head coach Michael Malone developed NBA stars like LeBron James and Steph Curry. Critics argue that Malone's influence on these players is overstated, as many were already established before his coaching stints.

There's no need to deny it. The North Carolina men's college basketball program went a bit outside the box with the hire of Michael Malone as its new head coach. But given what Malone accomplished with the Denver Nuggets — winning the 2023 NBA championship, helping to develop Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray into bona fide superstars — perhaps it's not that crazy for Malone to enjoy some success with the Tar Heels. What is actually crazy is that North Carolina, or its social media team, suggested Malone had a major hand in the "player development" of many other notable non-Denver NBA icons and superstars. A new promotional graphic from the Tar Heels centers on Malone while implying he helped develop LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Chris Paul, among others. Uh, sure? He totally helped those guys become living legends with his *assistant* coaching stops. That's definitely something worth amplifying to everyone without a hint of irony:

Just to list a few. pic.twitter.com/66mvDjJg6n

— Carolina Basketball (@UNC\_Basketball) April 11, 2026 Listen, I know Malone was around James in his early Cleveland Cavaliers days. I know he was around Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green right before the Golden State Warriors became an era-defining team. I know he probably rubbed off on Paul somehow, someway, right before he left the then-New Orleans Hornets. But c'mon now. No one serious is going to claim that Malone had this measurable impact on some of the most important NBA players of this millennium, many of whom were already established stars before he coached them, just because he was an assistant at one point in their respective careers. That's absurd. Again, I don't think Jokić and Murray become the NBA's best duo without Malone's steady guidance in Denver. The first sentence of Malone's legacy, as it stands, is these two becoming court-tilting superstars for a perennial Nuggets title contender because he empowered them. To me, that much can't be argued. Everyone else on this graphic feels like a stretchhhhhhh. That might be an understatement. Hoops fans online agreed with this assessment. bro did NOT develop LeBron 😭

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 12, 2026 Have some shame

— kofie.substack.com (@Kofie) April 12, 2026 This is like saying Coach K “developed” MJ, Magic, Bird, LeBron, Kobe, and KD.

Shameless 🤣 pic.twitter.com/GkYsc8sPSJ

— Zion O. (@DukeNBA) April 12, 2026 “As soon as I met Coach Malone I knew he had the developmental skills to be the coach at North Carolina one day” pic.twitter.com/2fTC1xCdQl

— jimmy toots (@futtywap) April 12, 2026 Yeah, I would say "shameless" is definitely the right word for this UNC Malone graphic. *This article originally appeared on For The Win: *

Q&A

What did North Carolina claim about Michael Malone's role in player development?

North Carolina's promotional graphic implied that Michael Malone played a significant role in developing NBA stars like LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Chris Paul, which many critics found absurd.

How did fans react to the claims about Michael Malone's coaching impact?

Fans reacted negatively, calling the claims 'shameless' and arguing that Malone had little measurable impact on the development of established stars like LeBron and Curry.

What achievements are attributed to Michael Malone during his coaching career?

Michael Malone is credited with winning the 2023 NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets and developing players like Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray into superstars.