NBA Click & Roll: It's the end of an era in NBA front offices
Welcome back to the Paste BN Sports' NBA Click & Roll newsletter.
So ... we took a timeout. We're changing our game plan. The Click & Roll newsletter is where we will now bring you exclusive content from Paste BN's NBA reporters Jeff Zillgitt and Martin Rogers, including updates on all their exploits on the NBA beat. Plus, we'll still catch you up on the *biggest* moments, quotes and NBA news you may have missed this week.
ZILLGITT: IT'S THE END OF AN NBA ERA
The days of a team hiring the same person to coach and lead the front office are over.
If Tom Thibodeau’s shaky tenure as coach and president of basketball operations of the Minnesota Timberwolves wasn’t enough foreshadowing, his dismissal on Sunday signaled the end of one person holding both roles.
A few years ago, coaches wanted both roles, and in certain circumstances, they got what they wanted. It was a mini-trend: Doc Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers, Stan Van Gundy with the Detroit Pistons, Thibodeau with the Timberwolves, Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks.
It makes sense to a certain degree. Why wouldn’t the coach want final say on who is on his roster? After all, he’s coaching the players, and he wants ones who fit his style.
But today, only Rivers remains with the same team – and even he had his president of basketball operations title removed. Rivers the front office executive was skewered for some of his personnel decisions, and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer put Lawrence Frank in charge of basketball operations. Ballmer saw what others see: It’s difficult for one person to hold both jobs.
“The notion that one person can fairly focus on them and give them all the attention they need isn't the case,” Ballmer told ESPN in 2017.
At a basic level, the coach’s job is to win now, and while the general manager wants to win now, he also needs to prepare for the future. The coach’s goal can be at odds with the president of basketball operations’ goal and vice versa. It’s difficult for the same person to make coaching and front-office decisions.
Then, there is the time and commitment required for each job as well. Each one is a full-time job, and then some.
Yes, the Spurs make it work with president and coach Gregg Popovich working side-by-side with general manager R.C. Buford. But the Spurs are the exception and not the rule.
Coaches around the league still have input on the roster, especially in Dallas and Miami. Collaboration is productive and necessary. But more and more, teams don’t want the same person making coaching and front-office decisions.
CATCH UP AROUND THE LEAGUE
- Speaking to the media after Thibodeau was fired, Derrick Rose praised the former Coach of the Year for taking a chance on him. He also caught flak for telling his critics to "kill" themselves, which he later apologized for.
- Andrew Wiggins also caught flak for referring to Dennis Schroder as "gay," which he later denied.
- The Lakers are spiraling out of control without LeBron. Here's why Kobe thinks fans should just "relax."
- Speaking of LeBron, he says he's the "greatest player of all time." Not only does Danny Ainge disagree, he said LeBron is taking a "Donald Trump approach."
- We hate to throw LaVar Ball "news" at you, but this is something you may want to see (Spoiler alert: It involves him missing jumpshots — a lot of them).
- Kawhi Leonard was booed during his return to San Antonio, and Isaiah Thomas wasn't a fan. "Let us come to your job and BOO you for 2hrs for you looking out for YOURSELF when teams time after time do what’s best for THEM!" read one of the tweets the Nuggets guard sent.
- Leonard's trip to Texas wasn't all negative, though. He and Gregg Popovich shared a special moment after the game.
- Klay Thompson scored 43 points on Tuesday night. He only dribbled the ball four (!!!) times.
- Timberwolves interim head coach Ryan Saunders — the son of beloved late coach Flip Saunders, who died in 2015 — led the team to his first win on Tuesday night. They celebrated accordingly.
- Enes Kanter said he won't travel with the Knicks to London because he fears for his life, explaining that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime has "a lot of spies there." Former NBA player Hedo Turkoglu, who is an adviser to Erdogan, then accused Kanter of conducting a "political smear campaign."
- Steph Curry is still bothered by some of the criticism he received from draft experts back in 2009.
Check back next week for everything that went down in the Association.