Jeff Malone

For the Canadian ice hockey player, see Jeff Malone (ice hockey).

Jeffrey Nigel Malone (born June 28, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Mississippi State, and is mostly known for his time with the Washington Bullets (1983–1990) of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was an NBA All-Star twice, playing the shooting guard position. He also played for the Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers, and Miami Heat.

Jeff Malone

Personal information
Born	(1961-06-28) June 28, 1961 (age 63) Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school	Southwest (Macon, Georgia)
College	Mississippi State (1979–1983)
NBA draft	1983: 1st round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Playing career	1983–1997
Position	Shooting guard
Number	24, 25
Coaching career	2000–2006
Career history
As player:
1983–1990	Washington Bullets
1990–1994	Utah Jazz
1994–1996	Philadelphia 76ers
1996	Miami Heat
1997	VAO
As coach:
1999–2000	San Diego Stingrays (assistant)
2000	San Diego Stingrays
2001–2005	Columbus Riverdragons
2005–2006	Florida Flame
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (1986, 1987) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1984) Third-team All-American – NABC (1983) SEC Player of the Year – UPI (1983)
Career NBA statistics
Points	17,231 (19.0 ppg)
Rebounds	2,364 (2.6 rpg)
Assists	2,154 (2.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Basketball career

Malone averaged 19.0 points per game over 13 years in the NBA. He was known for his capable offense, averaging more than 20 points in six full NBA seasons with Washington and Utah. In particular, Malone was adept at running his defender through a pick or series of screens, receiving a pass and hitting a quick mid-range jump shot. Often, these shots were off-balance, either fading sideways or falling backwards away from hoop, but his accuracy remained lethal, even when well-defended. At times, Malone would go on a hot streak and score more than 15 points in a single quarter.

On January 3, 1984, Malone, during his rookie season, hit a game-winning 3-pointer against the Detroit Pistons^[1] as he fell out of bounds along the left baseline and lofted the basketball above the backboard and made it to give the Bullets a 103–102 lead with 1 second left. This shot was listed in a votable list of the NBA's greatest shots.^[2] Malone emerged as one of the best scoring guards in the league over the next few years, appearing in the NBA All-Star Game in both 1986 and 1987. He averaged a career-best 24.3 points per game with the Bullets in 1989–90,^[3] his last season with the team.

Malone was traded to the Jazz in the off-season, adding another offensive weapon to a team that already featured future Hall of Famers Karl Malone and John Stockton. Jeff Malone averaged 18.6 points per game in his first year in Utah, and shot 91.7 percent on free throws, good for second in the league (narrowly losing the free throw title to Indiana's Reggie Miller, who shot 91.8 percent that season). Malone averaged 20.2 points per game the following year, and was named NBA Player of the Week for December 8, 1991.^[4] His scoring helped the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals that year, at that time the franchise's best-ever performance in the playoffs. During the 1993–94 season, Malone was sent to the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade that brought Jeff Hornacek to Utah.

Jeff was hired as Smokey Gaines' assistant coach for the IBL Stingrays in July 1999.^[5]

Malone also coached the NBA Development League's Columbus Riverdragons from 2001 to 2005, compiling a 102–98 record, before the franchise changed ownership and moved to Austin, Texas, renaming the team the Austin Toros and leaving Malone out of a job.^[3] He spent some time as the head coach of the Florida Flame until that team ceased operations in 2006, citing a lack of a suitable arena to play in.^[3]

Personal life

Malone resides in Chandler, Arizona, with his wife. He has four children; Jay, Joshua, Justin, and Jasmine Malone and one grandson Marshall Knutson-Malone.

Malone is the nephew of the late Vivian Malone Jones, the first African American graduate of the University of Alabama, and Dr. Sharon Malone Holder, wife of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.^[6]

He is not related to either former Jazz teammate Karl Malone or Moses Malone (with whom he was a teammate in Washington from 1986 to 1988).^[7]

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1983–84	Washington	81	2	24.4	.444	.323	.826	1.9	1.9	.3	.2	12.1
1984–85	Washington	76	61	34.4	.499	.208	.844	2.7	2.4	.7	.1	18.9
1985–86	Washington	80	80	37.4	.483	.176	.868	3.6	2.4	.9	.2	22.4
1986–87	Washington	80	79	34.5	.457	.154	.885	2.7	3.7	.9	.2	22.0
1987–88	Washington	80	80	33.2	.476	.417	.882	2.6	3.0	.6	.2	20.5
1988–89	Washington	76	75	31.8	.480	.053	.871	2.4	2.9	.5	.2	21.7
1989–90	Washington	75	74	34.2	.491	.167	.877	2.7	3.2	.6	.1	24.3
1990–91	Utah	69	69	35.7	.508	.167	.917	3.0	2.1	.7	.1	18.6
1991–92	Utah	81	81	36.1	.511	.083	.898	2.9	2.2	.7	.1	20.2
1992–93	Utah	79	59	32.4	.494	.333	.852	2.2	1.6	.5	.1	18.1
1993–94	Utah	50	50	33.1	.488	.500	.843	2.3	1.3	.5	.1	16.2
1993–94	Philadelphia	27	23	33.4	.481	.667	.809	3.1	2.2	.5	.0	16.8
1994–95	Philadelphia	19	19	34.7	.507	.393	.864	2.9	1.5	.8	.0	18.4
1995–96	Philadelphia	25	3	16.3	.394	.313	.923	1.3	.8	.5	.0	6.2
1995–96	Miami	7	0	14.7	.394	—	.833	1.1	1.0	.4	.0	4.4
Career		905	755	32.8	.484	.268	.871	2.6	2.4	.6	.1	19.0
All-Star		2	0	12.5	.600	.000	—	1.5	3.0	.5	.0	6.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1984	Washington	4	—	17.8	.462	.000	—	1.3	.5	.3	.0	6.0
1985	Washington	4	4	31.5	.482	.333	.769	1.5	2.0	1.3	.0	16.3
1986	Washington	5	5	39.4	.408	.000	.897	3.2	3.4	1.4	.6	22.0
1987	Washington	3	3	35.0	.370	—	1.000	2.3	3.0	.3	.0	15.0
1988	Washington	5	5	39.8	.515	.000	.757	3.4	2.2	1.0	1.0	25.6
1991	Utah	9	9	39.0	.493	.000	.917	3.9	3.2	1.0	.1	20.7
1992	Utah	16	16	38.1	.487	.333	.861	2.4	1.9	.5	.1	20.7
1993	Utah	5	5	30.0	.446	—	.692	3.2	.6	.6	.2	13.4
Career		51	47	35.5	.470	.167	.852	2.8	2.2	.8	.2	18.7

D-league Head Coach

Season	Finish	Wins	Losses	Pct.	Postseason results
Columbus Riverdragons
2001–02	3rd	31	25	.554	Lost Semifinals (Greenville) 1–2
2002–03	6th	23	27	.460
2003–04	6th	18	28	.391
2004–05	1st	30	18	.625	Won Semifinals (Roanoke) 96–89 Lost NBDL Finals (Asheville) 67–90
Florida Flame
2005–06	3rd	25	23	.521	Lost Semifinals (Albuquerque) 80–71

See also

• Sports portal

• List of National Basketball Association career free throw percentage leaders

References

1. New York Times: Bullets 103, Pistons 102
2. "NBA's Top 10 greatest". Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2006.
3. D-League: Flame to name Malone as coach Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
4. "Deseret News: Jeff Malone is NBA Player of the Week". Retrieved July 14, 2020.
5. "Transactions". The New York Times. New York. August 3, 1999.
6. Hook, Carol (November 19, 2008). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Eric Holder". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
7. Cotton, Anthony (March 12, 1988). "Jazz Stops Bullets Streak". Washington Post. Retrieved December 29, 2019. Washington's John Williams, remaining in the starting lineup at forward, scored 22 points with six rebounds and five assists. Despite those efforts, it seemed that the two rising stars would be eclipsed by the goings-on among a trio of non-related Malones.

External links

• Career statistics from NBA.com and Basketball Reference