Totally, totally inappropriate, even if it were true. I would never, ever be a coach for that franchise. I like to ride in the bus, not under it. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...vs/stories/093008dnspomavsbriefs.19d9897.html Mark Cuban said multiple players told him they wanted to be traded if Avery Johnson returned as coach this season. The Mavericks owner revealed the gravity of the rift between Johnson and his players at Monday's media day when asked how he came to the conclusion that he needed to fire Johnson. "I knew after I had so many people asking to be traded," Cuban said. "I mean, I had to deal with either the players and moving them or the coach and moving him." Cuban said these sentiments were relayed to him by the players or their agents over the course of last season. After each complaint Cuban would assure the players that he and Donnie Nelson, the team's president of basketball operations, would work with Johnson in an effort to smooth things over. Cuban said the players did not speak in generalities. They told him they didn't want to come back if Johnson was still the coach. "As you started looking deeper and deeper and deeper into things, we didn't have a choice," Cuban said. "I didn't want to fire him. That wasn't my goal." When asked if more than five players requested a trade, Cuban said yes. More than seven? "Close," Cuban said. Still, is it too simplistic to suggest that everything will be different now that a coaching change has been made? "Everything will be different," Cuban said. "I mean, it's not too simplistic at all. That's why we made the change. "If we didn't think it would be significantly different, we would not have made the change." I really can't begin to say how much this ticks me off. Avery Johnson has more class than that entire team put together, and he has the one thing Cuban still hasn't been able to buy: a ring.
come on now cuban... first you fire the man then you say this? I don't know what the point is to say this? All it does is make people weary of Avery and also of working for cuban.
Well, why Cuban doesn't try to coach the mavs himself? I see him putting himself as the head coach of Mavs.
It seems that Cuban likes to throw his former coaches under the bus. Whatever ... if Avery was really that bad, maybe he deserves the bad rep.
No one deserves that- matter of fact, giving a bad reference these days in the corporate arena can get you slapped with a lawsuit. That's essentially what he did. There are just some things you keep behind closed doors. No reason in the world to say this- if the press asks, it's "Well, we just felt we needed a change- and unfortunately, it's easier to make a coaching change...Avery was great for us and we wish him all the best." This incenses me to no end- first of all, it makes the players look bad because now everyone knows that at least half the team were pussified enough to threaten to leave if the coach stayed. It makes Avery look bad and could possibly cost him future opportunities- who's to say the players weren't the a**holes? You know, it's not like Howard or Stackhouse or Nowitski or Terry or even Kidd haven't said or done stupid things in the past...I'll take Avery's word and reputation any day over any of them, including Cuban. He is by far the biggest a-hole in sports with this incident. What a loser.
WTF!!! Cuban did not say or do anything wrong in that article & with his statement. He just stated one of the things that led to the firing of Avery. At least he's being honest. Everyone in Dallas knew Avery had to go after last season, there was no way he was or he would be coming back to coach that team. HE HAD LOST THE TEAM !!!! Cuban isn't throwing Avery under the bus anymore than Avery threw his players under the bus many many times. From Dirk to Devin to JKidd. I love Avery as much as any other Rockets fan despite the fact he played for the filthy team that plays by the Riverwalk and that he coached the losers from the Metroplex but come on, Avery brought this on himself. The Little general had an ego that only grew as his time with the Mavs went along and the parting between him and the Mavs was inevitable.
Finally the Mavs players cracked under the toughness of Avery and showed what they really are: a bunch of pansies. Avery turned them into a tougher team and he gets rewarded by his players crying to Cuban. Why doesn't Cuban name those said players in his smear report? Seems like his style but then again he's got alot in common with the players he pays. I'm going to enjoy their slide to mediocrity in the next few years.
How old are you? You do understand that under current employment laws, he could be sued for a tremendous sum for saying this in public? I've researched several cases of this and the "slanderer" has always lost. Whether it's true or not, you don't imply that the players have the ability to get a coach fired out in public like that- you put the players in a bad spot, you hinder your chances of getting a quality coach in the future (he's already got Carlisle under contract), and you come across as someone who passes the buck. Trust me, this will hurt him worse in the future than he realizes.
Exactly! Why doesn't he just name the players? He had no problem naming the coach and implying the mutiny. If he really held to what he preaches, he would mention those players, as well. He is the biggest loser in sports, now, no question. Just wait until this becomes a national news story- we've heard stories about players trying to get a coach fired- e.g. Brian Hill in Orlando- but this is the first time I can remember in which an owner blatantly said that the players caused the coach to be canned. It is going to be a bad, bad story for him.
Cue the Cuban is a great owner posts...... What's the excuse for that jackass sporting this T-shirt last season?? Best owner my ass....
FWIW I'm 26. WTF does this have to do with the NBA. We aren't talking about corporate America, the NBA and professional sports are not corporate America. This won't hurt him one iota. What hurts Cuban is the fact that he is too involved with his team-( getting in the huddle etc). That kind of stuff is what gets coaches ticked off and not whether he "slanders" them afterwards. Puhleaze, like Cuban is the first owner to say "negative" stuff about a former coach. This isn't even that bad and I don't think it speaks badly about Avery. Avery is not the first coach to lose his team and won't be the last. If Avery can't get another gig as a head coach then the blame can only be laid at the lil general's feet. If you know anything about Cuban then you'll know he had nothing but love for Avery and even though they fell out towards the end, he respected Avery a Sh.it load more than he did Don Nelson. I'm betting Avery hasn't and won't receive a bad reference from Cuban.
The players essentially stage a mutiny over Avery Johnson and so he fires the guy (okay, fine) and then goes out and hires Rick Carlisle? Not that Carlisle is the same sort of martinet, but he obviously is a good interview. He's always good for a 2-year stop here or there.
Same thing happened in Memphis with Fratello. The most successful coach in the organization's history but players want the easy life. So instead of wanting to work and do what the coach says, they get him run off. I hope Cuban will enjoy repping Big D at the lottery.
Making negative comments about a departing coach by an owner is one thing; implying that the reason you fired a coach was that ~7 players specifically came up to you and said that they were going to request to be traded unless the coach was fired is a completely different matter. And no, this does NOT happen all the time. I've been following sports religiously since 1986, and I've never read where an owner actually said or implied this. You show me an article that states this and I'll believe that it happens "all the time."
Dude, that's too easy. I'll go with one that's related to this thread and the mavs. Bill Davidson explaining why he fired Rick Carlisle : Rick Carlisle -- was that your call? Or had he lost the players? A: Yeah, he had lost the players. He had a certain style, which wore off after a certain amount of time. But he was a good coach, on kind of a short-term basis. He knows the game, did all the right things, but he didn't have that personal touch with players. Q: The whispers were that you didn't like his style or personality. A: No, definitely not true. Q: He wasn't fired because he had words with members of your staff? A: No. Q: Why was he fired? A: Players. A player will never come out and say it, but because I'm close to them, I know what they're thinking. Q: So you can tell when the coach has lost the players just by talking with the players? A: No, it comes back around. Somebody will say something to somebody, and then that person will say something to me. And if that happens enough times, then you realize what it is. Q: What about Flip Saunders? Another case of someone who lost his players? A: It's a story by itself. Q: Anything you can share? A: No. He had definitely lost the players. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080905/COL01/809050399/1118/RSS It happens in every sport- pro basketball, american football, ice-hockey, baseball, pro soccer, you name it. My goodness, the way you're making such a big deal out of it one would think you're related to Avery or you're a mavs fan. Seriously, why the fawk do we care about this? It's the mavs, lets leave them to self-destruct as usual this season and instead focus on our Rockets. Why should we care about the mavs and what Cuban, Avery and that circus at the AAC do? Go Rockets!
