NBA: The Constant Battle Of Power Between Stars And Coaches

After recent NBA head coaching firings, we look at the ongoing battle for power between the NBA stars and their head coaches

In the NFL, star athletes are masked by helmets and pads, many times unrecognizable off the field. It’s a basic characteristic of football that allows an often maligned league to firmly hold leverage over its players, because the part is much more marketable than its sums.

On the contrary, the NBA is a players’ league. That phrase is tossed around with frequency, and as you, the NBA fan know, it means the athletes have the power. For example, basketballers earn more commercial time than those in uniform in the MLB or NHL. Their endorsement dollars, social media followers and cultural clout far exceeds that of other sports. There are less of them, adding to the value.

Not that this is a bad thing. The players are the ones who break their bodies for a ball; drawing fans in by the tens of thousands. I mean, you aren’t going to an NBA game to watch Chris Paul throw a lob to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

But as one person gains power, another must lose it. In the constant tug of war between the NBA Players Union and owners, it seems like the former always has the firmer grip. But recently, another entity has slipped a rung on the NBA hierarchy ladder. The coach.

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Rarely do we see two coaches fired in the manner of David Blatt and Jeff Hornacek in the same week. The former Cleveland Cavaliers coach was fresh off an Eastern Conference final appearance and had coached his team to a 30-11 record despite scores of injuries. And that’s with a spotless record coaching overseas.

But as the reports say, Blatt lost the locker room. The players didn’t respect him. Despite the record, guys like Kevin Love were underperforming. Local media outlets began to question Blatt’s communication and leadership skills.

But the small ripples in Blatt’s relationship with the team’s court wasn’t nearly as important as his standing with The King, LeBron James.

As Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote about in January, LeBron’s agent Rich Paul had a replacement coach for the Cavs, Mark Jackson, lined up for in September, 2014. That’s a month before Blatt even got his first crack at coaching the King. Talk about preemptive discontentment.

Wojnarowski continued by reporting Cavs General Manager David Griffin had to constantly balance his complaints from James camp and his personal likening for Blatt. On one hand, his relationship with the man who was coaching his team to the top of the East was great. On the other, his best player was flooding his complaint box. Last month, tension reached a breaking point and Blatt was canned.

It’s possible we will see players become more boisterous while owners becoming more involved in the teams’ daily operations. But what is certain is the tide is shifting faster than ever in the NBA, and coaches are left out to sea

They say the squeaky wheel gets oil. In this case, the “squeaky wheel” is worth, according to Bloomberg, $215 million to the city Cleveland. Of course, the league is going to side with the player.

Hornacek, on the other hand, was a former Suns player, competing in Phoenix from 1992-1994. Yes, his record was abysmal this year, 14-35, and in the middle of a massive bad stretch. But he had coached two competitive seasons before the failure, guiding the Suns to a winning record in his first year before just missing the playoffs in an arduous Western Conference the next.

There is no mistaking things, this Suns are bad. They have one of the worst offensive and defensive efficiency ratings in the league, top the NBA in turnovers and display an undoubtable lack of cohesiveness. They are the textbook definition of an undisciplined team, a trait that leads a cry for coaching accountability. So, maybe Hornacek needed to go for the sake of shaking things up?

But on the other hand, look at the team. The Suns used to be a budding squad, with an abundance of athletic, young talent. They were poised to be the NBA’s next “it” team.

But then All-Star Isaiah Thomas was dealt for circus peanuts. Gerald Green was allowed to walk and old-man Tyson Chandler was gift wrapped a massive contract. In the middle of that, the Suns traded for a point guard, Brandon Knight, who meshes with their best scorer, Eric Bledsoe, about as well peanut butter and meatballs. A well designed out-of-bounds play couldn’t fix those moves.

And underpinning this laundry list of head scratching transactions was a growing distrust over the front office. The ominous vibe reached a boiling point when star point guard, Goran Dragic, demanded a trade midseason last year, questioning the loyalty of the front office.

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Players continued to air dirty laundry in the offseason, most notably Markieff Morris, who criticized Suns ownership for the way they treated his twin brother Marcus. And now, players, even those currently on the Suns, and the media are rushing to the defense of Hornacek, pinning his failure on the salty environment in Phoenix.

But instead of the members of the Suns front office receiving a pink slip, it’s the coach. Because that’s just how things work in the NBA; players are let go in the summer, coaches during the season and General Managers skate by with a slap on the wrist.

The Blatt and Hornacek firings differ in their motives – one happened because of player dissatisfaction while the other managerial incompetence. Each one reiterating something we already know about the NBA; what the players and owners want, the players and owners get.

If you’re not convinced by these examples, think about other recent firings. Despite guiding to his team to a No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs last season, Rockets GM Daryl Morey fired Kevin McHale after a 4-7 start. Rockets beat reporter Calvin Watkins reported regularly on the teams “lack of heart,” and that the players weren’t “playing with fire” under their coach. It’s a players’ league, so naturally when James Harden starts the season by shooting 37%, the coach takes the blame.

Next: Houston Rockets Eyeing Goran Dragic Ahead Of The Trade Deadline

On the other hand, the Tom Thibodeau case. “Thibs” won 64% of his games as the Bulls head coach, despite the team’s myriad of injuries. But he tussled with front office over player minutes and the intensity of his practices. Naturally, he lost.

Again, one coach at the mercy of the players, the other management. It is pattern the has played out for years in NBA, but as players and teams become more valuable, coaches are left with little say. How this disrupts the balance of the NBA is tough to predict. It’s possible we will see players become more boisterous while owners becoming more involved in the teams’ daily operations. But what is certain is the tide is shifting faster than ever in the NBA, and coaches are left out to sea.

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