A little background: in Memphis' last game, which was close, Marc Gasol, one of their star players, was benched with 7 minutes left to go, and did not return to the game. There was visible frustration from both the coach and the player at the time, and the initial reaction of Memphis fans was that it looked like Marc Gasol might be going. But the head office decided to axe the coach instead as a gesture of goodwill to Gasol to keep him around.
Although I despise this kind of action in most sports (letting one player "run" the team), in the NBA, I think it makes more sense. Star players really are hard to come across, but a decent head coach is usually not too hard to find.
A little background: in Memphis' last game, which was close, Marc Gasol, one of their star players, was benched with 7 minutes left to go, and did not return to the game. There was visible frustration from both the coach and the player at the time, and the initial reaction of Memphis fans was that it looked like Marc Gasol might be going. But the head office decided to axe the coach instead as a gesture of goodwill to Gasol to keep him around.
Although I despise this kind of action in most sports (letting one player "run" the team), in the NBA, I think it makes more sense. Star players really are hard to come across, but a decent head coach is usually not too hard to find.
A little background: in Memphis' last game, which was close, Marc Gasol, one of their star players, was benched with 7 minutes left to go, and did not return to the game. There was visible frustration from both the coach and the player at the time, and the initial reaction of Memphis fans was that it looked like Marc Gasol might be going. But the head office decided to axe the coach instead as a gesture of goodwill to Gasol to keep him around.
Although I despise this kind of action in most sports (letting one player "run" the team), in the NBA, I think it makes more sense. Star players really are hard to come across, but a decent head coach is usually not too hard to find.