Biting the dust

It started with Mike Brown.  He was the first coach in league history to win the Coach of the Year award by a unanimous vote for the 2022-2023 season.  With him calling the plays for the Sacramento Kings, he snapped a 16-year playoff drought in 2023.   Yet, he bit the dust when he was fired last December.

At the time of his firing, which management said was a “difficult decision”, the team was on a five-game losing streak and began the season with a 13-18 win-loss start.

About three weeks ago, with less than ten games remaining in the regular season, the Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins, for what management said was “for the best interest of the team.” 

With three games remaining in their regular season schedule, the Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA world when they fired head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth. 

Malone coached the Nuggets for ten seasons and led them to eight consecutive winning seasons, guiding them to the NBA championship in 2023.   Among the active NBA coaches, he had the fourth-longest tenure behind San Antonio’s Greg Popovich, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and GSW’s Steve Kerr.  He won 471 regular season games with the Nuggets, making him the franchise’s all-time coaching leader.

According to league and team sources, Malone and Booth were at odds for most of their 5 years together, often criticizing each other behind their backs.  The situation created factions with the coaching staff and the front office that obligated them to take sides.  Naturally, the toxic environment extended to the locker room.

Team president Josh Kroenke, whose family owns the Nuggets, disclosed that both were supposed to be let go at the All-Star break, but the team was on an eight-game winning streak.   Things have not improved, and Kroenke felt that removing both could put function to the dysfunction.

For the fourth straight season, the Phoenix Suns will be searching for a new coach when they showed the door to coach Mike Budenholzer, who replaced Frank Vogel, which also had a one-year stay in Phoenix.

Coach Bud led Milwaukee to the NBA title in 2021, and the Suns pinned their hopes on him to finally bring a title in the desert.  But things turned gloomy, taking the shine out of the Suns for the third straight year that one day after finishing their season with a 36-46 record, management said change is needed and that “fans deserve better”, thus, firing Budenholzer.

For the rest of the underperforming NBA coaches, the late Freddie Mercury sings, “Hey, are you ready for this, are you hanging at the edge of your seat?  How long can you stand the heat.  Hey, I’m gonna get you too, another one bites the dust.  And another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust”.