NBA: 15 Harshest Coach Firings Of All Time
By Phil Watson
8. St. Louis Hawks Ready To Dismiss Ed Macauley While Team Still In Playoffs (March 26, 1960)
Owner Ben Kerner of the St. Louis Hawks was known for running through coaches in a manner similar to how a person with a cold runs through facial tissues.
Ed Macauley, named coach of the Hawks in November 1958, was Kerner’s 13th coach in 13 seasons—despite an NBA title in 1957-58 and trips to the NBA Finals in 1957 and 1958.
It was reported on March 26, 1960, that the Hawks would be dumping coach Ed Macauley and replacing him with Paul Seymour, who had recently resigned as coach of the Syracuse Nationals.
Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the Atlanta Hawks
That report, which Kerner vehemently denied, broke the same day that the Hawks were preparing to host the Minneapolis Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Division Finals.
So it’s good it didn’t create a distraction, or anything.
St. Louis beat the Lakers 97-86 to reach the Finals for the third time in four seasons, but were defeated in seven games by the Boston Celtics.
Shockingly, Macauley was reassigned to the front office by Kerner on April 20—11 days after the Game 7 loss at Boston Garden—and the Hawks named Seymour as their new head coach.
The Aftermath For Macauley: Macauley never coached in the NBA—or anywhere else—again after posting an 89-48 mark and a 9-11 playoff record in less than two full seasons in St. Louis. Instead, he worked as an investment banker and a broadcaster while also serving as a deacon in the Catholic Church. He died in November 2011 at the age of 83.
The Aftermath For The Hawks: Seymour got them back to the Finals in 1961, where the Hawks again lost to Boston before he was fired after a 5-9 start to the 1961-62 season. The Hawks—neither in St. Louis or Atlanta, where they moved in 1968—have never been back to the Finals and Mike Budenholzer is the franchise’s 17th head coach since Seymour’s firing.
Next: LeFiring