Fired & Ice

Mike Woodson/ Chris J Nelson - Wikimedia

Who calls the Grim Reaper for the coaches at the end of the season? There has been six coaching changes in the NBA since the 2014 regular season has ended. They have been fired for either a poor record or the team does not like the coach.

The president of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, decided to fire Mike Woodson at the end the 2013 - 2014 season for their losing record. This season marked the first time that the Knicks did not make the playoffs since 2010. It was also the first time that Carmelo Anthony did not play in postseason.

“The move had been expected since Jackson's arrival, with the notion of a long and unexpected playoff run likely Woodson's only hope for being retained,” Sam Amick said in a 2014 USA TODAY article. 

Although a coach may do exceedingly well record wise, there still may be dysfunction among upper management or the other coaching staff. Coach Mark Jackson of the Golden State Warriors, was fired after the Warriors made it to the second round of the playoffs. Jackson brought the team to the playoffs the second time in a row since 1990.

“While Jackson was the Warriors' most successful coach since Don Nelson, tension between him and the front office slowly percolated over the last year,” Tyler Conway said in a 2014 Bleacher Report article.

The disunity caused the team to have a very powerful defense, but not the most coordinated offense. Management blamed Jackson for not finding a way to utilize All-Stars Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala’s skills to lead them further. They finished 51-31 in the Western Conference and yet Jackson was not able to salvage his job.

“When management and a coaching staff aren't on the same page, it's bound to end badly,” Conway said. “There is shared blame here, but it's much harder to fire an owner than a coach.”

NBA coaches were playing basketball before some of the players were even born, and yet, the players still get to call the shots. A coach can get the boot if the veteran players such as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol don’t like the style of coaching. Mike D’Antoni, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was pressured to resign after the Lakers worst season in its history ending in only 27 wins. Gasol and Bryant both openly voiced opposition to the D’Antoni system, causing tension among the team and staff.

"It's more of a finesse game,” Bryant said in a 2014 ESPN article. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for."

Mark Jackson (l.) / Matthew Addie - Flickr

Many general managers say that it is time to move the team in a different direction in regards to firing a coach. This is the case with the ex-coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mike Brown. In 2005, Brown started a five season saga with the Cavs, went to the Lakers for a year, and then back to Cleveland. The GMs have the power to treat these coaches like baseball cards. They can be used, traded or dismissed. The GMs and president will not give an actual reason to why the coach was fired.

“Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we need to head in a different direction,” Dan Gilbert said in a team release. “We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best.”

At the end of the 2013 regular season, 11 coaches were fired. Most of them were because of a lack of wins, but some coaches have been doing it right.

“The San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich and Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra are two of the league's three longest-tenured coaches” Amick said in a 2013 USA TODAY article.

These two veteran coaches are able to find an effective strategy utilizing their many all stars. Popovich and Spoelstra currently control two of the best teams in the NBA and they will continue to do so. They know how to run their offense and defense to the best of the abilities of their players.

With coaches getting let go left and right, there is a lot of speculation on what makes a good coach besides producing wins. This trend of a third of the leagues teams’ looking to pick up a new coach after a mediocre season will likely happen for several years to come.

By Willy Herman & Shawn Watts