On Wednesday, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced that they had fired head coach Scott Brooks after seven season with the team. \u00a0In a statement, GM Sam Presti said: “”Therefore, it is very important to state that this decision is not a reflection of this past season, but rather an assessment of what we feel is necessary at this point in time in order to continually evolve, progress and sustain.” \u00a0However, the Thunder have done all of these things with Brooks at the helm, and and it may be hard do do these things with the uncertainty of bringing in a new head coach.<\/p>\n
Over his tenure at the helm of the Thunder, Brooks led the team to a 338-207 record, which comes out to a .620 winning percentage. \u00a0In his first season, after taking over for deposed head coach P.J. Carlesimo, Brooks went 22-47 over the course of 69 games. \u00a0In the next season, the Thunder won 50 games and were bounced in the first round of the Playoffs; 50 games symbolized a 26-win improvement over the year before. \u00a0In 2011, the team made it to the Western Conference Finals, losing to the Mavericks, who would then become NBA champions. \u00a0The next year, Oklahoma City made the NBA finals, losing to the clearly superior Heat in five games. \u00a0The next year the team lost in the conference semifinals to the Memphis Grizzlies; in fairness, the team was crippled after a key knee injury to star Russell Westbrook in game 2 of the team’s first round series against the Houston Rockets. \u00a0Last year, the team lost to the eventual champion Spurs in 6 games in the conference finals, and this year the team missed the playoffs after a rash of injuries, particularly to key stars Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n
Two names that have been brought up as replacements fro Brooks are college coaches; UConn’s Kevin Ollie and Florida’s Billy Donovan. \u00a0Neither have any NBA head coaching experience (although Donovan almost became coach of the Magic after the 2007 season), but Ollie has a very tight kinship with Kevin Durant. \u00a0As an aside, Durant is set to become a free agent after this season. \u00a0However, we must ask ourselves an important question of both these people: would they actually take the job? \u00a0Donovan makes $3.7 million per year at Florida and Ollie makes up to $3 million per year at UConn. \u00a0Why would either leave their cushy environments in college and go to the NBA to deal with the more trying task of dealing with pro players? \u00a0They also would have to deal with more blame and scrutiny in the pros than in college, as we just saw with Brooks. \u00a0In college, the coaches get none of the blame and all of the credit (this is another article for a later time).<\/p>\n
We know what this is all about. \u00a0The Thunder have to find a way to keep Durant after next season, with rumors swirling about his future with the team and a potential “homecoming” with the Washington Wizards. \u00a0However, how can they keep Durant by firing the coach that he really likes? Said Durant of Brooks after the season:\u00a0\u201cHe made sure everybody was emotionally stable. It was a lot of guys in and out the lineup and he kept everybody together. So that\u2019s what your head coach is supposed to do. We can\u2019t really say nothing about it because he did his job. He kept us together. That\u2019s what the main thing was \u2026 So it\u2019s kind of tough. But he did his best job he can do and I\u2019m proud of him.\u201d \u00a0Said Russell Westbrook of Brooks:\u201cI don\u2019t think he gets enough credit for what he does behind the scenes. Obviously, a lot of people that\u2019s not in (the practice facility) want him to do other things, want to see other things from him. But as a coach and as a friend, I think he does an amazing job of communicating what he wants out of the players.\u201d \u00a0 Serge Ibaka also endorsed Brooks and implored the team not to fire him, saying:\u00a0What has he done? Injuries were not his fault. Why would he go? He has not done anything. He\u2019s not responsible for the injuries. He did his best with the team he had. Would (another) coach do better with a team with so many injuries? What could he possibly do about it? The team is with him. You can\u2019t blame him for what has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure, the Thunder want to evolve, progress and sustain. \u00a0But what if evolving, progressing, and sustaining can be done without firing your former coach of the year, one of which your team’s three best players all gave ringing endorsements to? \u00a0And what if doing this alienates Durant into leaving the team next summer? \u00a0Is that, evolution, progress, and sustainability?<\/p>\n
Or is that unrest, insustainability, and going backwards?<\/p>\n
Firing one of the best head coaches in the game certainly doesn’t help the team’s chances of evolving, sustaining, and progressing.<\/p>\n