After Eight Seasons, Kings Part With Coach Adelman
May 10, 2006 by Angelo Fernandez
Filed under NBA Basketball
So just shortly after I wrote about how the Kings needed to keep Coach Rick Adelman he gets fired. After 8 seasons with the Kings, Adelman has established himself as the best coach the franchise has ever had. That’s big shoes to fill for his successor and I mean really big shoes. While I disagree on Adelman’s firing we can’t do anything about it, can we? So who’s next?
Rumor has it Don Nelson, former coach of the Dallas Mavericks, is the top candidate for the job. While Nellie may be the best fit for what Adelman was to the Kings, I doubt if he’d take the job. I figure he’d be more interested in spending his time relaxing, enjoying his retirement. Coaching is a tough and stressful job!
Terry Porter was listed as another prospect since he worked as an assistant for Adelman a few years ago before taking the head coaching job at Milwaukee. This looks like a bad choice for the Kings since his 2 year stint in Milwaukee didn’t prove to be very successful. On the other hand, Porter is viewed as a player’s coach who knows what players want being a former player himself. This may be good in trying to keep Ron Artest happy.
Another prospect is PJ Carlesimo who’s an assistant in San Antonio now. He’s best known for being a victim to Latrell Sprewell’s choking back when he coached the Golden State Warriors back in 1997. Being a member of Greg Popovich’s coaching staff, he must have picked up some excellent techniques to add to his own personal style, just like how Coach of the Year Avery Johnson was influenced by Nelson and Popovich.
For the love of basketball, I hope the Kings get a great coach or we’ll see such a great talented team just go to waste!
Ric A built up and coached that team to greatness. He will not be easy to replace
The next coach will have to be a big gambler like Kings owners. No shrinker will take on this job which will look like this: 1st year – honeymoon period or fodder for Artest if unlucky ; 2nd year – show us the money, and 3rd (and last) year – bleed some more or the sword will fall. Good luck.