Despite leading the Warriors to some of their most successful playoff runs in years, NBA coach Mark Jackson was fired on Tuesday after three seasons in Oakland.
On paper, it seemed like Jackson was doing an excellent job reviving a franchise that had only made the playoffs once in the 17 years prior to Jackson’s hiring.
After a rough first season that saw Jackson lead the Warriors to 23-36 record during the labor-shortened 2011-12 season, the former NBA point guard led his team to a combined 98-66 record over the next two years with appearances in the Western Conference semifinals during both campaigns. It was the first time that Golden State has made the postseason in consecutive years since 1991-92.
As a whole, Jackson boasted a 121-109 record with Golden State.
Despite the success that Jackson enjoyed on the court, the same can’t be said off the hardwood as Jackson often clashed with management over personnel decisions.
“Obviously [the decision] was not made exclusively on wins and losses,” said Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who compared his decision to fire Jackson to his prior experience as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.
“There’s a different CEO that may be required to achieve success at different stages of an organization’s development,” Lacob said. “When you’re a start-up company it’s one thing, when you’re a small-growth company it’s one thing and when you’re a mature company that’s trying to reach a billion in sales — or in this case win an NBA championship — perhaps that’s a different person. And we just felt overall we needed a different person.”
The Warriors reportedly are focused on former NBA guard and current TV analyst Steve Kerr as a top pick for the job. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that the team also was looking at Stan Van Gundy as a possible option.
Kerr has received attention from multiple teams looking for a coach, with the Knicks currently believed to be the front runner for his services thanks to Kerr’s close relationship with the team’s president, Phil Jackson.
