Oy va boy, welcome to another edition of Basketball & Feelings, where water levels are rising on the Lakers schooners, and little by little it feels like we might be drowning, thanks to the Jamal Murray, the Joker, and the rest of the Denver Nuggets. I’m not giving up hope yet, but this Nuggets team is well coached, and full of talent, including KCP, who looks great in the series, and who I feel like I’ve caught Lebron looking at here and there, wishing he was still a Laker. Whatever happens in game 3, I’m going to walk away from this Lakers season really proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish. Now, to the task at hand: Cuh-cuh-coaching.
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By my count, at least four of the most prominent coaches in the NBA have been fired over the course of the last month, and change. Nick Nurse, Monty Williams, Doc Rivers, and Mike Budenholzer, that’s a lot of big name coaches who are currently looking for new jobs. My heart goes out to anyone who gets fired, but what’s more interesting to me is the fact that the coaches, if you follow the official statements of the teams, are all basically being fired for the exact same reason.
On Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors: "The decision to make a change like this is never arrived at easily or taken lightly, especially when it comes to a person who has been an integral part of this franchise's most historic accomplishments…through some of our team’s most challenging times. As we reflect on Nick’s many successes…
On Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers: “Doc is one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, a future Hall of Famer, and someone I respect immensely. We’re grateful for all he did in his three seasons here and thank him for the important impact he made on our franchise. After having the chance to reflect upon our season, we decided that certain changes are necessary to further our goals of competing for a championship.”
On Monty William of the Phoenix Suns: “We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community. While it was difficult for me to make this decision, I look forward to continuing the work to build a championship team.”
On Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks: “This was a very difficult decision. Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks’ first title in fifty years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.
I have a lot of feelings. In a weird way, it’s kind of cathartic, it helps me process my own failures to know that NBA coaches are just as prone to being fired, or kicked to the curb like frozen scallions from the back of the fridge. At the same time, it’s a bit overwhelming, as it’s obvious that whoever makes these decisions, is hiding behind the same canned response that everybody else uses to justify their decision making. Judging by the statements above, it appears it’s always best to scapegoat the easiest target if you want to “sustain winning.”
Firing coaches is by now an epidemic in the NBA. One stunning fact I read is that the only coaches who have stayed employed since the 2019 season are the coaches for San Antonio, Miami, Memphis, Denver, and Golden State; every other coach has either been fired or coaching for no more than three years. That’s pretty crazy if you think about it. You can say it says a lot about how desperate teams are to win in the NBA, but sports is always metaphor for something bigger: This says a lot about what winning means in America, in general. The fact that more NBA teams are becoming the property of tech moguls probably has something to do with it. It can’t be random that coaching contracts have shrunk just as more tech moguls have brought their Burning Man philosophies into the sport. Everyone wants to win so badly, and not just win, but win a championship, every year, so so bad, that hey, even if you’re getting a few steps from a championship, it’s simply not good enough anymore. You messed up, you shoulda won it all. I swear, these moguls they’re coming for everyone: For screenwriters, our best jobs and our worst jobs, and more and more for our damn coaches. Pretty soon we might be watching computerized basketball players play the games — at least their press conferences will be more efficient…
Last thing I want to say is this. The NBA coaches are getting paid a lot of money to do their jobs. It’s not hyperbole to say that each of the men pictured above is making close to 10 million a year coaching. They also have airtight contracts, and when they’re fired, they still get paid for the remaining years of their contract. In Doc Rivers’ case, he has two years at 8 million per, so no matter what he does tomorrow — coach another NBA team, or go fishing, he’ll be alright. That’s not something that many of us can do, most of us get spit back into the morass of the job hunt, trying to find a way to feed our kids before the grounds bottoms out below.
Thanks for playing some jazz with me; major props to all of the WGA writers fighting the good fight, until nexxxxxt weeeeek
allen