Over time, the overall quality of the NBA product has improved drastically. More than ever, the league is filled with amazing and talented players, many of which have teamed up together to try and make a run for the title.
Still, despite all the steps forward the NBA has taken recently, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for some major improvement. On ‘the Unrestricted Area’ podcast, league insider David Thrope pointed out one area that has really fallen off in recent years: coaching.
NBA Coaching Has Been Raised As A Serious Problem In Today’s NBA
According to Thrope, coaches just aren’t fulfilling their responsibilities to the same degree they used to. In a rant, he blamed a lack of communication and accountability as the biggest sins of modern coaches.
“I’m not happy to say this, because I’m rooting for NBA coaches, but most of them are very negligent in their duties now. I had a dad tell me the other day, ‘coach if it wasn’t for you, my son would be on his own in the NBA.’ He’s got a multi-year, guaranteed deal. They’re not talking to their players and when they do, they’re kissing their a**. I go to pre-game stuff and I see these coaches rebound for them. There’s so little communication. In some cases, they’re scared to coach them because the player may get some pushback and the coach gets fired… Steve Kerr coaches his guys. Ty Lue coaches his guys. And there’s a list. But you gotta be able to coach your guys. I think from assistant coaches to head coaches, there’s not enough of that.”
NBA coaches are supposed to be there to help players grow and develop their game. If they aren’t doing that, then they are falling short of half their duties.
Couple those concerning trends with the recent scandal involving Celtics coach Ime Udoka, and it’s no wonder why there is so much mistrust in coaches right now. Now, more than ever, it seems that many of the guys we consider the best are giving us reasons to doubt their intentions.
But, for any championship hopeful out there, a strong coaching staff is necessary to make any kind of significant run in the postseason. We know that Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue, and Erik Spoelstra are at the top of the game, but it won’t be long before new names enter the picture.
