The NBA season has ended for all but three teams, and a lot of the franchises that are out of contention have made big moves already. Many top Head Coaches have surprisingly lost their jobs after failing to take their teams to the Finals.
The Phoenix Suns parted ways with Monty Williams, Doc Rivers was fired by the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors fired their championship-winning Head Coaches, Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse. And legendary coach Larry Brown had something to say about this trend.
“So many young kids coming in the league now,” Brown said. And I look at these benches now and see 15 people all dressed the same. It kind of troubles me. When I was starting out… You could establish a relationship with the players.
“Now it’s different. I think so many people are looking out there to try to find somebody young that they think can communicate better with young players. I don’t buy it. I think a lot of people are afraid to coach these guys.
“I look around the league now because players are making so much money that, in a lot of cases, I think sometimes the players are kind of running the teams. And you can understand that. Guys making 40 and 50 million dollars. They’re going to have some say.”
Larry Brown famously had his fair share of tussles with a star player, Allen Iverson. However, while he could have maybe been less rigid, Iverson has later accepted that he should have listened to his Head Coach more. In any case, it’s hard to say if player power is the reason behind all these sackings, the ‘Ring or Bust’ mentality seems to have done more damage in this situation than anything else.
The Coaching Carousel In The NBA Has A Lot Of Big Names At The Moment
A reason so many teams have opted for a change could be the sheer number of high-caliber coaches currently available in the market. Doc Rivers, Monty Williams, Mike Budenholzer, and Nick Nurse have all been to the NBA Finals, and three of them have won the whole thing. Even Frank Vogel, who won with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, is still available.
It would be unsurprising to see many of these coaches end up in the jobs their peers have vacated, it seems to be a true carousel this time. Nick Nurse is among the finalists for the Bucks job, while Doc Rivers has been linked with the Phoenix Suns. Wherever all of these coaches end up, it is a bit of a worrying trend for the NBA.
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