Last summer, nine rookie head coaches were hired. Seven were white. Further, six of them had never played in the NBA, either: Mike Malone, Brett Brown, Brad Stevens, Steve Clifford, Mike Budenholzer and Dave Joerger. That’s staggering for a league made up of nearly 80 percent Black players. Malone was fired over the weekend, and the reports are that the team is interested in George Karl. Nothing against Karl; been around a long time ands he’s won a lot of games and no championships. But he’s a retread. He’s 63 and has had his best coaching days. Meanwhile, there are a plethora off Black former head coaches and an assistant who deserve a shot, but may not even get an interview. Not good. Here are five who could do a credible job with the talent Kings have on their roster.
Mark Jackson
There did not seem to be a coach around who connected with his players the way Jackson did in his first stint as a coach, with the Golden State Warriors. He inspired them to play hard and fast, and Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson blossomed under Jackson’s tutelage. He was fired after leading the franchise to its first consecutive playoff seasons in 20 years over what owner Joe Lacob has described as personal stuff about not getting along with 200 staff members in the building and not hiring the assistant coaching staff Lacob wanted, although the team had won 51 games. Jackson, 49, lives in California, but he might not even want that job if called.
