For the fourth time in the last year the coach of a 50-win team has been fired, this time over the protestations of the team’s star player. We’ll see if it works out better for the Warriors than it did for the Nuggets or Grizzlies (the Clippers did it as well but got an upgrade and improved) .
Mark Jackson has been fired as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors despite a 51-win season and consecutive playoff appearances, the team announced Tuesday.
“It’s never easy to make a decision of this nature,” said General Manager Bob Myers. “Mark has accomplished many good things during his three years with the organization, including his role in helping elevate this team into a better position than it was when he arrived nearly 36 months ago. We’re appreciative of his dedication and commitment since his arrival and are extremely grateful for his contributions. However, as an organization, we simply feel it’s best to move in a different direction at this time.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports lays out the case against Jackson, which was primarily about personality conflicts and clashes with management:Jackson clashed constantly with management and struggled to manage his coaching staff during his Warriors tenure. Jackson’s disinterest in game preparation and reluctance to practice despite a mostly young and gifted roster played a part in management’s reluctance to commit long term to him, league sources said.
Jackson relied on an assistant coach, Darren Erman, to build a top-five defense, but Erman was fired late in the season after an incident that involved the taping of a conversation among the coaching staff.
I will confirm some of this from my sources — Jackson was seen as a motivator, he had a strong personality and put his religious beliefs front and center (which worked for key players on this team), but not good at Xs and Os, he left that to his assistants then clashed with them over it. Both Brian Scalabrine, who was demoted to the D-League after Jackson tried to fire him in front of the team, and Erman (who felt so undermined by Jackson that he started surreptitiously recording conversations, which led to his dismissal) were favorites of owner Joe Lacob and management.
This is a hands-on ownership group and rubbing them the wrong way was not going to go well for Jackson.
MORE FROM CSN BAY AREA: Five factors in the Jackson decision
Don’t think this was all one sided.
To repeat what I've been told (and been saying), divorce between @MarkJackson13 and #Warriors likely mutual. Very mutual.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) May 6, 2014
That said, Jackson had a lot of support in the Warriors locker room — Stephen Curry has been the lead cheerleader and called for Jackson to be retained. Klay Thompson, Jermaine O’Neal and others had his support. I will add a lot of the players understood the load the assistant coaches on this team had to carry. Still, the Warriors did win 51 games and advance to the playoffs in consecutive years under Jackson, the first time that has happened for the franchise since the 1990s. He was a good motivator but missed what Mike Malone brought (Malone left to take the head job of the Sacramento Kings).
The Lakers will now add Jackson to their already lengthy list of coaching candidates, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
This puts a lot of pressure on management to find an upgrade.
It is reported Lacob and management want to go after Steve Kerr, which is why they to move quickly before he signs with the Knicks, a deal that is close but not finalized. The other name thrown around as a potential coach is Stan Van Gundy. Other prominent names may surface as well (in terms of on the court style George Karl could be a great fit).
If the Warriors take a step back management has questions to answer. Hard ones.