Continuing the trend of receiving huge salaries from high-value contract extensions of head coaches in the NBA, Nikola Jokic’s teacher has just joined the group of coaches with the highest salaries in the tournament.
According to information from two reputable journalists, Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN) and Shams Charania (The Athletic), Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has just reached an agreement to extend his contract with the reigning NBA champions.
The official number has not been disclosed, only that both journalists confirmed that Nikola Jokic’s coach will be in the group of coaches with the highest salary in the league under the new contract .
Coach Michael Malone and Nikola Jokic, two of the most important figures of the Denver Nuggets
The current top 5 highest paid coaches in the NBA include:
1. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs: $16 million
2. Monty Williams, Detroit Pistons: $13 million
3. Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors: $9.5 million
4. Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat: $8.5 million
5. Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers: $7.5 million
It is unclear how much salary the 52-year-old captain receives. It is likely that the captain of the Denver Nuggets will be in the top 3, or even the top 2 coaches with the highest salary in the NBA.
According to predictions of some news sites, the salary that Mr. Michael Malone is expected to receive will be in the 8-digit range (over 10 million US dollars).
Mr. Michael Malone will be among the highest-paid coaches in the NBA
5 months ago, coach Michael Malone led the Denver Nuggets to the first NBA championship in the team’s history.
Nikola Jokic (Finals MVP) and his teammates defeated many formidable teams to lift the championship trophy, including the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western finals and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals series.
Mr. Malone has worked at Denver for 9 seasons, leading the team to 375 victories in a total of 647 matches, achieving a win rate of 57.9%. This season, coach Michael Malone and his students won 8 out of 10 matches to temporarily top the Western rankings.
The tendency of NBA captains to receive huge contracts with high salaries
Last summer, former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams signed a 6-year contract worth $78.5 million with the Detroit Pistons (average $13 million/season).
At the same time, both sides also have an attached agreement for the 7th and 8th years, bringing the total value of this contract to nearly 100 million USԀ (including salary and bonuses), the highest in the history of the tournament for each player. with a coach.
Not long after, veteran captain Gregg Popovich extended his contract with the San Antonio Spurs and will pocket $80 million within 5 years.
Coach Monty Williams (left) and veteran coach Gregg Popovich, the two captains with the highest salaries in the NBA
By being in the group of coaches with the highest salary in the NBA, it is likely that Mr. Michael Malone has received a contract worth about 70-80 million USԀ, continuing the trend of huge contract extensions of captains in the tournament.
In the past, fans only often heard about high salaries for athletes. Now coaches receive the money they deserve for their achievements. Teams are also willing to “roll out the red carpet” to recruit good coaches, no less than how they spend money to buy players.The next two names preparing to receive huge contracts are coach Steve Kerr (Golden State) and Erik Spoelstra (Miami), two captains whose contracts will expire in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Some news sites predict that the amount these two successful coaches can receive will exceed the threshold of 16 million USԀ, even approaching the mark of 20 million USԀ per season.