At NBA Summer League through games in Brooklyn at the start of this season, the coach voice you heard yelling out defenses and instructions was often assistant coach Lawrence Frank, not head coach Jason Kidd. When the Nets decided to go with the untested Kidd as coach they hired Frank (and paid him well) to be the experienced voice next to him on the bench.
That didn’t last long.
Kidd said Tuesday that Frank had been “reassigned” and would be doing daily reports for the organization, he will not be on the bench anymore, reports Howard Beck of Bleacher Report and other Nets reporters.
Is having a different philosophy from a 5-12 coach a bad thing?
There had been rumors of strong differences between the two for a while, and things had spiraled down following a Nov. 4 argument, reports Adrain Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.After Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd blistered top assistant Lawrence Frank in a staff meeting on Nov. 4, the partnership was irreparably damaged and ultimately spiraled to its end on Tuesday, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Hours after a blowout loss to the Orlando Magic – Kidd’s first game on the bench following a two-game suspension to start the season – the entire coaching staff witnessed Kidd lose his temper with Frank and escalate a strangely uneasy and brief coaching partnership together.
Kidd was always a strong willed player who wanted to do things his way. Frank is a strong willed, opinionated coach who could drive players crazy with his micromanagement. Frank was brought in because of how he prepares but he and Kidd could not get along. Marc Stein of ESPN summed up the pro-Kidd spin well.
Said one coaching source Tuesday night after LFrank's departure: "(Kidd) needed a veteran assistant to guide him, not tell him what to do"
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 3, 2013
We’ll see what impact this has on the team, but it means a bigger role for Joe Prunty.
It’s an expensive decision for the Nets, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports noted.
Assistant coach Lawrence Frank, who Nets "reassigned," has a 6-year deal that averages over $1 million a year. Breakup had been building.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 3, 2013