Do you realize that the NBA regular season is half over? It began on October 24, 2023, which was 13 weeks ago. Other than the freshly minted In-Season Tournament – – no peeking, do you remember the two teams that played in the final game of that creation? – – has there been any real buzz about the league in the last 13 weeks?
Yesterday, something unusual happened in the NBA so let’s use that as an opportunity to talk about the NBA today. Last year, the Milwaukee Bucks finished the regular season with a record of 58-24. Obviously, they made the playoffs with that record since five-eighths of the teams in the NBA make the playoffs these days. The Bucks lost in the first round of those playoffs to the Heat and that was considered to be sufficiently unsatisfactory that the Bucks fired their coach from last year – – Mike Budenholzer – – and replaced him with Adrian Griffin.
Griffin had no head-coaching experience prior to taking over the Bucks but he had been an assistant in the NBA for about a decade. The Bucks record as of this morning is 30-13 which is a winning percentage of .698. And yesterday, the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin.
I said above that this was “unusual”. It is sufficiently “unusual” to make me wonder about the motivation behind the decision. Griffin’s contract with the Bucks was described as being a “multi-year deal” at $4M per year. Given coaching salaries in the NBA these days, I doubt if there is any sort of financial dimension to the decision.
Days before the season opener, there was a reported confrontation between Griffin and Bucks’ assistant coach, Terry Stotts that resulted in the Bucks firing Stotts. That incident may or may not have entered into the decision made yesterday but it seems strange that it would be allowed to percolate for 13 weeks if it were deemed to be anything close to a “firing offense” for the head coach.
The Bucks’ record of 30-13 as of today means that they and two other teams – – Timberwolves and Thunder – – share the distinction of having the second-best record in the NBA trailing only the Celtics by 3.5 games. Those three teams are on pace to win 56 games in the regular season which would make them a shoo-in for the upcoming playoffs no matter who the coach is or is not. There is more to this than meets the eye …
Now, since I mentioned the NBA and its standings today, I would be remiss – – and I would damage my street cred as a Certified Curmudgeon – – if I did not point out a couple of things at the bottom of the NBA standings.
- It was just over 50 years ago when the Sixers set the record for NBA futility in a season finishing with a record of 9-73.
- As of this morning, the Pistons record is 4-39; with that winning percentage, the Pistons are on pace to win a total of 7.6 games.
- When the Sixers set this ignominious record, they did not win their fifth game until they had lost 48 games.
- The Pistons’ coach – – Monty Williams – – is also in his first year with the Pistons and he is still as the Pistons’ coach with that performance. Interesting …
Here is another item from the bottom of the NBA barrel this morning … The Washington Wizards do not have a new coach this year; Wes Unseld, Jr. has been with the Wizards for the past two seasons and is under contract with the team through the 2024/2025 season. As of this morning, the Wizards have the second-worst record in the league at 7-35. The interesting thing about the Wizards today has nothing to do with the fact that the team is not very good; the thing is that when Wes Unseld, Jr. was hired for the job, the buzz around the Washington area was that he was going to instill tough defense.
He has been on the job now for two-and-a-half years and as of this morning the Washington Wizards rank dead last in the NBA in points allowed per game (124.9 points per game allowed). So much for the definition of “tough defense” …
One last NBA observation today … The NY Knicks’ record this morning is 27-17 putting them on pace to win 50 games this year. If they achieve that mark, it will be only the second time since 2000 that the team has won 50 games in a season. What is equally interesting is that the Knicks seem to be doing this with defense. As of this morning, the Knicks rank third in the NBA in points allowed per game (110.4 points per game). The Knicks actually rank in the lower half of the NBA – – 16th out of 30 teams – – in points scored per game and yet they project to be a 50-game winner this year.
Finally, since today referred to historical events in the NBA, let me close with this “definition” of history offered up by Leo Tolstoy:
“History is nothing but a collection of fables and useless trifles, cluttered up with a mass of unnecessary figures and proper names.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
You have a typo in the Knicks record. It should be 27-17.
Clearly there must be something behind the scenes that wasn’t clear to the average fan. Griffin was hired because he was the favorite candidate of Giannis.
Doug:
Thank you. Correction made.
Agree that there is more to Griffin’s firing than meets the eye.
Mr. Tolstoy (allegedly) also stated that history fits no pattern and has no direction. Perhaps this is an indication of Coach Griffin’s fate. Fired for 30-13 (.698)(!) supports Doug’s position above. Raider Al Davis often listened to his players over the coach–just ask Mike Shanahan.
TenaciousP:
Hard to convince me that 30-13 is an underachieving record …
In today’s NBA, and this probably applies to all professional team sports, the coach serves at the pleasure of the team’s stars. The bigger the star, the more influence that person wields. Since NBA teams are small relative to other sports, the influence of one or two players is magnified.
This coach may have had the support of his biggest star during the off-season, but I doubt that is the case today.
Gil:
With only a few exceptions for super-successful coaches in all sports, the inmates seem to be running the asylum.