http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/sports/basketball/22coaches.html Black Coaches in N.B.A. Have Shorter Tenures The men coaching N.B.A. teams in recent seasons have looked like no other group of head coaches in the history of major American professional sports. Today, 10 of the league's 30 coaches are black, ranging from young former players like Terry Porter in Milwaukee to veterans of multiple coaching jobs like Bernie Bickerstaff in Charlotte. At a time when the National Football League can count only 10 black head coaches in its history, the National Basketball Association has reached a position rare for any business: when a black coach or executive is hired or fired, almost nobody mentions race. Opportunity in the N.B.A. appears to have become color blind. But the coaches who have received those opportunities have not had much time to enjoy them. In a pattern that has gone largely unnoticed, except among black coaches themselves, white coaches have been holding on to their jobs for significantly longer than black coaches. Yesterday, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired Paul Silas, who was in his second season with the team. Over the last decade, black N.B.A. coaches have lasted an average of just 1.6 seasons, compared with 2.4 seasons for white coaches, according to a review of coaching records by The New York Times. That means the typical white coach lasts almost 50 percent longer and has most of an extra season to prove himself. This month alone, three of the six black coaches who had held their jobs for more than a season have been fired, including Silas, who had eight years of N.B.A coaching experience before joining Cleveland. The Orlando Magic dismissed Johnny Davis last Thursday after less than two seasons. On March 2, the Portland Trail Blazers fired Maurice Cheeks, then the black coach with the second-longest tenure; he had lasted almost four seasons. "Our white counterparts are given more the benefit of the doubt," Silas said in an interview in January. "Things have changed dramatically in our society, but it still has a long way to go." The gap has created a deep division among coaches and executives, one that splits largely but not exclusively along racial lines. Some, including Commissioner David Stern, said the numbers surprised them and called them largely a coincidence. Doc Rivers, the coach of the Boston Celtics, who is black, said he thought that owners and general managers now gave white and black coaches equal chances to succeed. The league, some people said, is simply too competitive for race to affect executives. (you can read the rest by following the link) I'm afraid Stern is wrong here. NBA coaching strikes me as exactly the sort of profession in which the unconscious stature that comes with skin color can make the difference between getting fired and being given another 10 or 20 games of slack. Case in point: How many of you think Jeff Van Gundy would have survived this season (prior to the Wesley trade) if hadn't walked around with the stature of Jeff Van Gundy? If he'd been, say, a black guy with a less prestigious resume, whether or not that resume meant a damn thing in terms of ability?
JVG, IMO, was 'saved' because of his resume and the contract it bought. Had it been someone else then who knows -- black, an unproven assistant -- an unproven black assistant? The last would not have survived, maybe none of them. That said, Silas was itching to get canned and Davis was clearly overmatched. Cheeks and McMillan deserve better than what Portland dealt Mo and the contract not (yet?) dealt to Nate. Coop was dumped real quick but Mitchell? Maybe staying with him (and/or Babcock) too long?
JVG was saved becasue of his contract and his resume. If he was black he still wouldn't have been fired (I hope not).
Notice though, you did not say "with the staure of a white coach". In the same vein, had he been a white guy with a less prestigious resume, he may have been in trouble as well. Whether there is an inherent problem or not, the numbers are skewed by coaches in the last decade like Jackson, Saunders, Tomjanovich and Sloan who have/had been with their teams a long time. The NBA has done a great job of hiring black coaches in terms of numbers, but that is a relatively recent trend. In time, the average length of stay will even out.
Lenny Wilkens has been coaching forever. He was a great coach, won a championship and has hung around because of his ability. KC Jones was a great coach with the Celtics and would have had a longer tenure if he wanted. Bennie Bickerstaff is a great coach and will probably be in the league awhile. Mo Cheeks, Paul Silas, and Johnny Davis are not good examples. Silas has had opportuities and his teams have underacheived. Neither Davis or Cheeks have a ton of experience so they're likely to be fired sooner. John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Rick Pitino and a ton of white coaches have also failed at the NBA level and will probably never be the main guy again.
Even w/o the racial argument tossed in, the coaching turnover in the NBA is way too extreme. It's become THE way to try and reach players. Going through a bad slump? Not quite living up to expectations? Bye bye coach. It's hard to establish consistency with so many coaches being tossed out all over the place. I also tend to agree that the racial aspects are more coincidental, even though Silas and Cheeks appear to have been given raw deals, and Nate shoud've been extended by now.
There are so many other obvious factors to consider besides race, such as prior head coaching experience, or any experience period. There are a number of ex-players who've gotten head coaching jobs in the past decade with no prior experience of any kind. Just due to the breakdown of players in the NBA, most of these guys have been black. There are also a number of experienced coaches who bounce around the league, with long resumes. Most of those guys are white. It makes sense that the experienced guys might be given a slightly longer leash to work with. At 1.6/2.4 years, it doesn't seem like anyone lasts long as a head coach these days.
Oh please......!!! I am so sick and tired of the race card being played like this.... Its all about winning games people.......not the color of your skin. If that was the case there would be no black players regardless of the talent level. Its happening in baseball too with Barry Bonds, using the race card everytime somebody asks him a hardball question....what a bunch of losers!!!
I'm black and even I have to admit this is stupid. Silas being black didn't have anything to do with it. Last time I checked Usher was black and he was one of the guys that had Silas canned. If anything I think it's easier for a black coach to get a head coaching job then in any other major and minor sport. This is just a case of NBA owners being quick with the hook when it comes to head coaches.
wow, 1.6 and 2.4?! although i think at one point last year something like only 1 east team still had the same coach as the season before so it's not that hard to believe. and it's like SamCassell said, mostly white guys have been coaches in the past and thus can ride their past resumes to a little more time to prove themselves. white or black with no resume and a failing team is going to get the hook these days. in time, more blacks will have a resume to hang around with and the numbers will start to even out.
This has nothing to do with his firing or black coaches, but that's a bit of an inaccurate statement - I don't think Cleveland is really that far behind schedule. They have struggled as of late but were still on track for the playoffs and LeBron is all of 19 years old, and aside from him and Z, they really don't have much to write home about as far as depth. Likewise, if anything he was an OVERachiever in Charlotte/NO when he coaxed 47 wins out of a pretty mediocre Hornets squad and got some coach of the year consideration - then was fired.
Why do people keep saying this? This is a false statement. McInnis is a solid PG. He's a pure point with a very good mid range shot. The Rockets would love to have Drew Gooden. He's a tremendously underrated player. On this team, he'd be our top rebounder with a decent low post game and good FG %. Their only main weakness is the SF, the least important position in basketball. If anything Cleveland has been unfortunate with injuries to some of their young talent. A mediocre record in the weak Eastern conference is not where they should be considering they have 1 superstar, 1 very good Center (something most NBA teams do not have), a legitimate PG, and a good role player at the 4.
I agree Silas got a raw deal, both times. He basically maximized his sad talents that he had on his teams to thier near full potential, and you get fired for it? That just plain sucks. As you said the Hornets overachieved and the Cavs were not going to do any better than they are doing right now, even with Phil Jackson. Johnny Davis, well, it looks like he plain sucks, but I still question the timing of his move as well.
Sad talents? I wager that every GM in the league would trade their roster for Cleveland's. In Charlotte's best season, they had CBA sorry players like Barron Davis, Eddie Jones, Brad Miller, Ricky Davis, David Wesley, and Anthony Mason
Please......not every GM, not even the one we have, and I'd be willing to bet it would only be for Bron Bron anyway. I mean who doesn't want him. I just don't see anything on thier roster that is THAT attractive, especially compared to anything we have anyway.
The Cavs were supposed to be in the middle of the pack in the playoff hunt, which they are at #5. The superstar (who I thought played the 3 spot?) is only in his 2nd year. The "legitimate" point guard is actually a CBA wanderer who shoots too much...or maybe you meant Eric Snow, who can't shoot worth a lick. Maybe it's like last year when we wanted to combine MoT and Cato for our ideal 4? Their legit PG is the combo of Snow and McInnis? This good role player at the 4, he manages to disappear once every 4 games or so. The problem with the team: it is still young and pretty inconsistent, but they're right where they want to be in terms of development. It's not like they're supposed to be running away with their division...
So you would rather have Clarence Weatherspoon over Drew Gooden? How much do you think Zydrunas Ilgauskas will command on the free agent market? I'll wager our signature that he will get offers of at least $8 million/year in the open market. Most people view Anderson Varejao has an immensely talented young player with a huge upside. And Jeff McInnis would start on 1/2 the NBA teams.
You think career journeyman Bobby Sura is better than Jeff McInnis? You think Juwan Howard is better than Drew Gooden? The only reason they were picked #5 is because no one knew how good LeBron would be at such a young age. And no one knew Drew Gooden would be such a good contributer
Well, to be fair you said trade rosters, not individual players, that's a totally different matter. Z will get money because nobody is good that plays his position anymore. How much would he have gotten in the 80s/90s when almost every team had a good center. AV is talented, I forgot about him, I'd take him. Jeff McInnis.......I don't know to tell you the truth, he may start on a lot of teams, but not on many that matters.
Flip Saunders was fired halfway through this season. Less than a year after leading Minnesota to the NBA's best record and the Western Conference Finals. So I'd say this isn't a race issue. The main problem is that GM's have no accountability for their irresponsible transactions. Of course, you can't fire a player under a guaranteed contract. So the coach is always the first one to pay the price for sh*tty chemistry.
