As I was watching the weekly NBA TV show “NBA Beat” yesterday afternoon, one of the topics being discussed was the statement of Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy on his assistant coach Patrick Ewing. It was a special Tuesday night at the Madison Square Garden and during halftime of the Magic-Knicks game, several Knick greats were honored and among them were Willis Reed, Bernard King and Ewing. Gundy was wondering if the Knicks were truly sincere in their citation of Ewing as one of the greatest players in franchise history. According to him, if they really meant it then why don’t they even consider the 7-foot Jamaican native for a mentoring job for the team, if not the top guru then maybe a deputy at the very least.
But is it really an obligation for a franchise to hire their great players at the end of their playing careers? History tells otherwise. There were only a few legends to ever coach their own playing team after retirement and among them were Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, Dan Issel of the Denver Nuggets, Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets, Jerry West and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers. Majority of the superstar players-turned-head coaches never had the chance to mentor the teams they are popularly attached with. The list includes Larry Bird (Celtics), who had coaching stint with his hometown squad Indiana Pacers, Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons) with the Pacers and the Knicks and even served as President of the Toronto Raptors during its early years, Bill Laimbeer (Pistons) with the Detroit Shock of the WNBA, Don Nelson (Celtics) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors, Rick Carlisle (Celtics) with the Indiana Pacers, Pistons and Mavericks, Michael Cooper (Lakers) with the Denver Nuggets and WNBA’s LA Sparks, Danny Ainge (Celtics) is the current Celtics General Manager but had his previous mentoring job with the Phoenix Suns and Kevin McHale (Celtics) with the Minnesota Timberwolves. There are a lot more but the most mind-boggling of all superstars who was never ever considered to coach his mother team was Rick Barry of the Warriors. Barry led the Warriors to their last NBA title in 1975 and is one of the all-time sports heroes in the bay area. It is not only Golden State but the whole NBA family which shut the coaching door on one of the league’s 50 greatest players. Barry was only able to showcase his coaching skills in several minor leagues including the USBL.
In the gritty world of the NBA, it is safe to say that it is management prerogative to name or hire their coaches. Even a sterling playing career with their franchise is no guarantee that it will eventually lead for a coaching tenure in the future. In the end, everybody will realize that there is a big difference between playing and in coaching. Enough said.
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The Golden State Warriors will miss the post-season play for the second straight campaign and fans are wondering what happened to the once-exciting bay area outfit.
The reason is very simple, two years ago, the Warriors had Jason Richardson, Baron Davis, Mickael Pietrus and Matt Barnes. Now they have the likes of Corey Maggette, Jamaal Crawford, Marcus Williams and Anthony Randolph. From promising to lethargic. Clearly the latter set does not fit the scheme of things in coach Don Nelson’s system.
It’s a pity to see a 180 degree-turned around for a squad considered as the toast of the league in 2006-07 to a lottery club in 2008-09. Warriors legend and current General Manager Chris Mullin will have the whole summer to think about on what went wrong and how to reconstruct the team for the future. For sure, nobody wants to be in his shoes for the next several months.
*****Kobe Bryant is at it again! A former housekeeper of the Laker superstar is suing him and his wife for alleged battery and harassment. This kind of scenario is the least needed by Bryant as the play-offs are set to start in less than a month.
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In other NBA news, the league lost once again a great foundation in Detroit Pistons top honcho William Davidson, who passed away a week ago. Davidson’s death came in the heels of another team owner, Larry Miller of the Utah Jazz. Davidson is the ideal team owner, who spent more than half of his entire life looking after his beloved Pistons. It’s a good thing that he did see the motor city squad won their 3rd league title in 2004.
Rest in peace, Mr. Davidson.
Ah...the Golden State Warriors...maybe they should change their name na...they're becoming a disgrace to the GSW of yore...i remember Run TMC and the days when Rick Barry lorded it over the rest of the nba.
ReplyDeleteHere's my take on what's wrong with the team:
First of all, Corey Magette. He's a ball hog, simply put. He's awesome for sure, but he's got to take the cudgels of this team and not just shot everytime he has the ball. In a previous game, i heard the analyst saying that they were surprised magette passed the ball to an open teammate when he had the shot. His personality is like that - selfish and not really a team player.
Secondly, Monta Ellis. Granted he was injured and he lied about it but he's not performing as well as when he had baron davis winging with him at the back court. H's play this year is really a downer.
Next, we have the underperforming Brandan Wright.What the hell is this guy doing earning those millions and doing almost nothing to contribute night in and night out?I mean,he does flash his potential from time to time but is that all he's got?
The bench corps is another matter. They have marco belinelli who hasn't been used that well by nellie. He's an explosive scorer but nellie has been reluctant to play him the way he should be played; then they have jamal crawford who was supposed to lead them over the hump but couldn't because he's been up and down. We have ronny turiaf, that dynamo of energy (supposed to be the staunch defender of the rim) who couldn't play consistently which is again too bad.
Then they have anthony morrow, rob kurz, cj watson, kelenna azubuike and the rest. I don't know but from the looks of things they're a pretty downtrodden bunch. I am not even starting with stephen jackson...which is another matter altogether....