I've been wondering this for a number of years and never thought to ask before now. How much individualized communication occurs between NBA players and coaches? I guess I'm really asking this in regards to situations where a player might be upset or angry. For example: Everyone knows AB got the start against Boston because Martin was out. But he has a great game, makes the difference, and might be thinking he's finally getting back to last years level of play. My question is this - does Rick go to AB and say "look, you're coming back ... I really like what you're doing on the court, but I'm going to start Kyle. You're still of vital importance to the team, but I think at this point the best way you can help the team is by coming off the bench." (or whatever Rick really honestly thinks)? Or does AB show up to the Toyota Center hoping to start only to find out otherwise by some posted starting lineup somewhere? I realize nobody actually knows the true answer to this, but curious what you think. And I do intend this to be a generalized question, not specific to this particular example or even to just the Rockets.
