kb02
All-Star
Any organization, not just the NBA, would reach out to all past employers and would do extensive background checks on their prospective hires. Well, maybe not the Kings as we saw with the Walton, and to some extent, the Vlade hires.
Any organization, not just the NBA, would reach out to all past employers and would do extensive background checks on their prospective hires. Well, maybe not the Kings as we saw with the Walton, and to some extent, the Vlade hires.
steelevt
All-Star
Yeah this list is nothing like what I expected. I saw possible names like Atkinson, cassell, adelman and griffin with the possible chance of Quinn Snyder if the jazz flop. Seeing this current list reported is quite underwhelming.
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Other than speculation, there is nothing tying Matina to either of these decisions. For all we know, she may not have an opinion either way, or not been supportive of them but was overridden by others. And then you then jump straight from these posts to Matina making the decision to hire Hammon to "make history", even though she just signed a contract to coach another team? I'm no fan of Matina's, but this is just...stupid.
Again, you made a pretty sexist statement with no known basis in reality. Knock this crap off.
So the Kings would for some reason reach out to the Spurs to do a background check to hire someone who just signed an agreement to become the highest paid coach in a different league (her dream job of being a head coach, for the team she used to play for)? Why the heck would that make any sense??? Why would you do a background check on someone who isn't available to take a position this summer (with Gentry likely to be canned immediately after the season is over)? Should they do background checks on Tanisha Wright, James Wade, Curt Miller, Mike Thibault, Cheryl Reeve, or Derek Fisher too? Are we insistent on hiring a WNBA head coach now for some reason?
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Seems like speculation from the media as opposed to insider info.
This list appears to be Marc Stein's though. Is there any legitimacy to it or does he just pull stuff from rumors and conjecture? This does not look like a Monte list.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
FWIW, Becky was widely considered Pop's heir apparent and was a finalist for multiple head coaching jobs in the NBA before getting the richest job offer in WNBA history.
Would somehow poaching her from her yet-to-have-begun WNBA head coaching job be BAD for the Kings' organization?
Would somehow poaching her from her yet-to-have-begun WNBA head coaching job be BAD for the Kings' organization?
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
I don't think Monte was in the initial interest list for the GM spot a couple years back either so it might be best to wait and see.
Agree. Probably agents circulating their guys names around.
kb02
All-Star
The richest contract in WNBA history would still be less than a regular NBA head coach’s contract. Why stop at sexism, if you’re going to make that accusation. Saying Monte wanting to hire D’Antoni is also saying a white dude will hirie another white dude. Wouldn’t that be gender biased and it certainly wouldn’t help with diversity? Or saying Vivek wanting to hire Doug, is that not gender biased while also pushing the narrative that a minority should get the job, because another minority is hiring him?
kb02
All-Star
Whether she is available or not, any competent organization would throw a wide net and would do background checks on as many qualified candidates as possible. And no matter how rich her contract is, it’s still not in the same league as an NBA head coach’s contract. Nothing prevents her from taking an NBA head coaching position. Have you seen any language in her contract that says she can’t leave for any position for a year or the entire length of her contract? If so, she should fire her agent.
Hoovtrain
All-Star
lol doesn’t surprise me at all
Letsgokings13
Starter
How is that sexist?
Instead of saying the Kings (or Vivek, as the "owner") would hire Hammon, which would be a reasonable statement to make, the point made in the post is that it is the only woman that appears to have that level of power in the organization (Matina) would have the Kings hire Hammon, apparently based on her sex alone (again, based on the links provided in the post and no other reasoning provided). We don't know that Matina supported or spearheaded the actions in those links and there has been no public speculation that Matina would want to hire Hammon, for any reason.
Because when was the last time a "white dude" was hired as an NBA head coach? Oh yeah, probably at least once a year. When was the last time a minority male was hired as a head coach? Again, probably at least once a year. Every single coach in the NBA is male (duh) and a fair percentage are minority (heck maybe the majority, I don't know and frankly haven't looked at the numbers - it doesn't really matter in this discussion).
When was the last time a woman was hired as an NBA head coach? *crickets*.
There is a difference. Don't play dumb.
So, again, are you suggesting that every NBA team should be conducting full background checks on every single currently employed NBA and WNBA head coach, just to do their due diligence for any potential coaching change that may or may not happen at some point in the future? Is this really the point you think we are supposed to believe you were trying to make?
You didn't answer my question: "Should they do background checks on Tanisha Wright, James Wade, Curt Miller, Mike Thibault, Cheryl Reeve, or Derek Fisher too? Are we insistent on hiring a WNBA head coach now for some reason?" Or were you solely focused on Hammon, the point of your post, for some reason? Because all of these coaches have more head coaching experience than Hammon, and therefore are also "qualified candidates", no?
kb02
All-Star
So no language prevents her from taking an NBA head coaching job?
As for your question, yes, if offered the job, I would expect any competent organization to do a full background check on their qualified candidates.
kb02
All-Star
In the past, Vivek has been criticized for hiring coaches before the GM. Different front office execs have been blamed for picking players and bypassing certain players. Or signing vets, who were paid to stay home. Rarely were those moves, individually, framed as “the Kings’ decision”. Each decision has a champion, so why is it sacrilegious to say a certain front office exec would push for this and another would push for that?
And if we’re talking “differences”, in Vivek’s tenure, the full time head coaches have been Malone, Joeger, and Walton. Gentry and Doug were emergency band aids due to the Walton firing. So wouldn’t hiring a full time minority head coach be something different since his previous hires represented a narrow, gender, and race specific class? Given that, why would saying Vivek (a minority) hiring Doug (a minority) be any different than saying Matina (a woman) hiring Hammond (a woman)?
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Monte allegedly wanted Chris Finch for coach and he had a similar path as my man Nick Nurse. I have to think that's the type he would go for. I see Kenny Atkinson thrown around the board a lot and admittedly know nothing about him, but he is 118-190 in his career.
steelevt
All-Star
I just know he took over a crappy nets team that started over with young guys and improved their record every year he was there. Went from a bottom of the league team to over .500. How much of that improvement was due to him I don’t know but it’s worth checking out.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
What is with the Portland connection? No thanks to Stotts. The best thing about Stotts was he had Lillard on his team. I never got the feeling that Stotts had out-coached the Kings, even with all the sub par coaches the Kings have had over the years. I'm hoping for a lot better from McNair, and of course hoping that Vivek won't meddle in the decision.
I'd go for for someone like Finch, and I think Adelman has to be at least looked at because of his background with a high post offense and his defensive orientation.
I'd go for for someone like Finch, and I think Adelman has to be at least looked at because of his background with a high post offense and his defensive orientation.
Kingz19
Hall of Famer
I’m not opposed to Stotts. He’s not a flashy name nor does he have the mystery that promoted assistants or novices bring.…but he has a track record of winning games and getting the most out of talent throughout the rotation.
I know others don’t think so and chalk it up to just Lillard.. but I think a few recent Portland teams overachieved and I think coaches often have a hand in that because you need to get the most out of everybody when a fairly thin team like Portland makes it to the Western Conference Finals.
I actually don’t know why Stotts was let go by Portland. His removal suggests that Portland was somehow more talented than recent postseason results suggest but they were really not. I can think of only one season where Portland maybe should’ve advanced but didn’t(when they were swept by New Orleans) but 2-3 seasons where they did advance but weren’t favored to.
Obviously, Portland was extremely mediocre this season even when they were fully healthy and they ultimately decided to blow up the team that Stotts wasn’t able to I guess win it all with. I don’t think it was Stotts holding them back.
That’s not to say that Stotts is who I want, but I don’t really have a desired coach since I don’t think the coaching is the problem at this point. I think Kings fans are automatically dismissive of coaches who are familiar though. If it’s not a proven championship level coach then it’s got to be somebody who has no track record at all…which is why most of the names I’ve seen thrown out have no head coaching experience.
I would consider Stotts one of the best and most proven available coaches. Atkinson would be around the same tier.
They actually fit the Kings timeline too. People talk about the Kings timeline as if we want to start winning games three years from now. Kings need to start winning games next season. They were supposed to start 2 seasons ago. The Kings are actually behind their own timeline but people till talk about this group like they are a team of babies. They aren’t. They should be competing now because they aren’t getting blown up.
I know others don’t think so and chalk it up to just Lillard.. but I think a few recent Portland teams overachieved and I think coaches often have a hand in that because you need to get the most out of everybody when a fairly thin team like Portland makes it to the Western Conference Finals.
I actually don’t know why Stotts was let go by Portland. His removal suggests that Portland was somehow more talented than recent postseason results suggest but they were really not. I can think of only one season where Portland maybe should’ve advanced but didn’t(when they were swept by New Orleans) but 2-3 seasons where they did advance but weren’t favored to.
Obviously, Portland was extremely mediocre this season even when they were fully healthy and they ultimately decided to blow up the team that Stotts wasn’t able to I guess win it all with. I don’t think it was Stotts holding them back.
That’s not to say that Stotts is who I want, but I don’t really have a desired coach since I don’t think the coaching is the problem at this point. I think Kings fans are automatically dismissive of coaches who are familiar though. If it’s not a proven championship level coach then it’s got to be somebody who has no track record at all…which is why most of the names I’ve seen thrown out have no head coaching experience.
I would consider Stotts one of the best and most proven available coaches. Atkinson would be around the same tier.
They actually fit the Kings timeline too. People talk about the Kings timeline as if we want to start winning games three years from now. Kings need to start winning games next season. They were supposed to start 2 seasons ago. The Kings are actually behind their own timeline but people till talk about this group like they are a team of babies. They aren’t. They should be competing now because they aren’t getting blown up.
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The natural people to mention as being responsible for a coaching hire are McNair (the GM) and/or Vivek (the owner). So far as I can remember, nobody has ever mentioned Matina in connection with decision making about the coaching staff until you did. It seems to me that the only person on the board who won't openly acknowledge that the reason that Matina was brought up in relation to Hammon is that both are women is coincidentally the same person who said it in the first place.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Since we're all skirting around the issue, what is the #1 criterion for personnel decisions on the Kings' team? Is it merit? Is it diversity? Or are there some other criteria involved? Do you know? I don't. Based on the crappy personnel I see involved in announcing and in coaching, and based on the highly political remarks made by Vivek over the past couple of years, I do have to wonder whether merit is really the #1 criterion. Has Vivek ever been asked that question? If so, I missed it (too much other stuff going on) and would really like to be informed on the matter.
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ridingagain
G-League
Both. Merit means someone is worthy of the position. Considering a diverse candidate pool may help you find someone who is more deserving than you may have otherwise considered.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
Hiring based on merit means hiring the one most qualified for the position. (And "qualified" has nothing to do with skin color or gender, otherwise we certainly are embarking on a racist/sexist path). "Worthiness" is broader. There may be many candidates worthy of consideration for the position. There is only one best candidate based on merit. Certainly, the largest pool and the most candidates allows one to hire the most qualified candidate for the position - the one who has the most merit.
Again, has anyone ever asked Vivek whether his #1 criterion for his personnel decisions is diversity or merit? It seems a fair question to ask.
- Why are your questions framed in such a way as to suggest that you think that merit and diversity are antithetical to each other, when they're not?
- There are very few jobs in which there is such a thing as "most" qualified candidate. And NBA head coach, IMO, is not one of them. When you have multiple equally qualified candidates, how do you decide which one gets the job?
Nobody knows what her new contract language is, including you, but she just signed it and is currently employed by another NBA team until their season is over.
Unless you have evidence that Matina is actively trying to poach a coach from another team solely to make her the first female head coach in the NBA per your original statement, your follow up arguments are moot, no matter how much you try to deflect and obfuscate.
The Sacramento Kings have had at least seven minority head coaches already, and all have been male. Hiring another one (male, either white or minority) isn't any indication of a "natural evolution" and certainly doesn't qualify as "makes history", as you have claimed.
I've probably watched more Blazers games than any other team besides the Kings the last 10 years or so. I don't think he's a horrible coach, I just don't think there is anything particularly special about him. The team basically did what they were supposed to do. I've seen too many coaches of that caliber not do what they are supposed to do with the Kings. Defensively, I didn't see anything special with his teams. On offense they relied heavily on Dame and CJ, Fox isn't Dame and we do not have a CJ. Sabonis is > Nurk and I guess the one positive you could say is that he did get a lot out of Nurk, but again the Portland front court was like a carousel and something I never feel like Stotts ever resolved while in Portland. Part of this was bad luck, injuries and GMing, but I guess that's my #1 concern.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
With respect to possible coaching candidates, my hope is that the assistants on the Miami Heat are included in the pool. During the Heat game in which Reynolds was the analyst he mentioned that the Heat (and I'm giving rough numbers here) had taken over 100 charges so far during the season, whereas the next highest team was in the mid 50s. As of today, the Heat have taken 110 charges, with the 2nd best the Houston Rockets at 64. That is an insane differential. I was hoping that there would be more discussion of that stat, but unfortunately there was not. It certainly raises the question: How is it that Miami takes almost TWICE the charges of the next highest team in the league? Can we really believe that the Miami Heat players are soooo athletically gifted relative to the rest of the league that they can get twice the charging calls of the next highest team? I find that very difficult to believe. I think it has more to do with players being willing to take those charges than the capability of being able to take them. And to my mind, that has to do with coaching, and yes, "culture."
Check out the NBA Advanced Stat page on Hustle Leaders: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle-leaders/
In all the categories of "hustle" I couldn't find one Kings player in the top 10. (In fairness, if you click on the "team" page you can find that the Kings did come in 10th in one of the categories - contested shots). Do you know the player that is 6th in charges taken per 36 minutes? Dwayne Dedmon of the Miami Heat! (LOL!) Our beloved Dwayne is among the league leaders in this "hustle" and toughness category. Now if that isn't an endorsement of Miami Heat culture, I don't know what is. Talk about turning a lump of coal into a diamond. Holy moly.
Anyway, whatever the Heat are drinking, I want the Kings to start drinking. And I definitely want McNair to give those Miami Heat assistants a look for the future HC of the Kings.
Check out the NBA Advanced Stat page on Hustle Leaders: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle-leaders/
In all the categories of "hustle" I couldn't find one Kings player in the top 10. (In fairness, if you click on the "team" page you can find that the Kings did come in 10th in one of the categories - contested shots). Do you know the player that is 6th in charges taken per 36 minutes? Dwayne Dedmon of the Miami Heat! (LOL!) Our beloved Dwayne is among the league leaders in this "hustle" and toughness category. Now if that isn't an endorsement of Miami Heat culture, I don't know what is. Talk about turning a lump of coal into a diamond. Holy moly.
Anyway, whatever the Heat are drinking, I want the Kings to start drinking. And I definitely want McNair to give those Miami Heat assistants a look for the future HC of the Kings.
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