When the legendary Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news about coach Scott Brooks being fired by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Twitter early Wednesday morning, I immediately thought about the curse. You know. The curse, where it seems like just about every recipient of the Coach of the Year award in the last 10 years has been fired.
More from Oklahoma City Thunder
- 3 Steps for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to enter the MVP race next season
- 5 NBA teams on the rise that will surprise everyone in 2023-24
- 5 players who will challenge Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year
- What does Oklahoma City plan to do with an abundance of picks?
- Thunder Summer League: Notes from Holmgren’s chaotic yet magical play
Unless your name is Gregg Popovich, chances are your head coaching job in the NBA isn’t safe.
Just take a look at the previous winners of the award below.
Avery Johnson, Sam Mitchell, Byron Scott and Mike Brown were all let go less than two seasons after winning the award.
Think that’s crazy? George Karl was fired less than a month after taking home the coaching honors. This was after leading the 2012-13 Denver Nuggets to a franchise-record 57 wins.
It looks as though the 2011 winner, Tom Thibodeau, might be next to get the boot. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, by now you have heard about the drama that has been brewing in the Windy City. One may be surprised by this because Thibs has done such an excellent job in Chicago the last few years, but that’s the way it goes. Either win, or kick rocks.
Mike Budenholzer may want to think about giving the award back to the league.
Being named COY is an unbelievable honor. But if the best of the best are expendable, then what about the rest of the pool?
Scott Brooks may have lasted longer than some of the other COY winners that were fired, but I still believe he deserved at least one more season with this current group.
Kevin Durant may not be upset with the decision to let Brooks go, but I don’t think he would be mad about another go-around with the team either.
Although the Thunder haven’t made it back to the NBA Finals since 2012 when they lost to the Miami Heat, Brooks has still kept them in championship contention.
Even with a plethora of injuries this season, the team was able to remain competitive and win 45 games in a ridiculously tough Western Conference under the guidance of Brooks.
Regardless of what he was able to accomplish in his time as coach, the fact is Brooks is now gone.
Luckily for him, there are already other teams interested in his services.
Whether the COY curse is real or not, the truth is coaches just don’t last very long in the current NBA.
Popovich is the only exception. He has been with the San Antonio Spurs since 1996. After Pop, the Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra is the second-longest tenured coach at seven seasons with the club.
In the future, Brooks needs to make sure he meets his new team’s expectations. This goes for those interviewing for the position Brooks left behind.
If they don’t show steady signs of improvement, they may not last very long as a head coach in the NBA. Teams obviously don’t have a problem switching things around which means the COY curse may stay alive for years to come.
Next: 50 Greatest NBA Players Of The 1980s
More from Hoops Habit
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers