NBA Coach Hot Seat Watch: Who will be the next coach fired?
The life of an NBA head coach is filled with stress and long hours, and relatively devoid of relaxation or job security. Only a select few can enter a season not worrying about whether they will come out safe on the other side. For most, guiding a team to meet or exceed expectations is a must in order to stay employed.
Already this season two head coaches have seen their tenures with a team come to an end. In Atlanta Lloyd Pierce saw an injured Hawks team stumble so badly out of the gate that the team fired him and raised up former head coach Nate McMillan to take over; the Hawks have gone 16-5 since.
The Minnesota Timberwolves likewise made a move, firing Ryan Saunders and immediately hiring Chris Finch from the Toronto Raptors. In 31 games this season under Saunders the Wolves won seven games; in 25 games under Finch, they have won…seven games. Not exactly the new-coach-boost the franchise was hoping for.
Looking around at the rest of the league, who will be the next head coach fired? NBA history tells us that one to three coaches per season are fired during the year; with less than 20 games to go teams may just ride it out and make their moves after the season. Looking across the league, we can see which coaches are “safe” and which are on the hot seat.
Some NBA coaches are safe from dismissal… for now.
Obviously coaches wildly exceeding expectations, such as Monty Williams with the Phoenix Suns or James Borrego with the Charlotte Hornets, have generated job security this season. Others have built that job security from past success; Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs and Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors are both at the edge of the playoff picture but have earned the right to decide their own endpoint with their franchises. The same goes for Erik Spoelstra, although the Miami Heat have recovered from their poor start enough that his seat is likely cool anyway.
A handful of coaches have seats just starting to warm but are likely safe for various reasons. Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls may miss even the play-in game, but in his first season he probably gets a pass; the same goes for Stephen Silas, who has been a victim of the whims of a certain bearded star guard and all the shockwaves from the Houston Rockets trading their franchise centerpiece.
Nick Nurse is overseeing a Toronto Raptors team that is playing home games in Tampa, Florida, and has dealt with injuries and waves after wave of COVID-19 related absences. He is clearly one of the league’s best coaches and has a title in his pocket; he is safe. The same likely goes for Brad Stevens, who is trying to coach a Boston Celtics team with multiple COVID absences of its own, the loss of Gordon Hayward and the uncertain health of its backcourt.
With those coaches safe, there are still five coaches whose backsides are getting uncomfortably warm. From five to one, we rank the five NBA head coaches most likely to be fired next. Cue the Hot Seat Watch.
**All stats current through games played 4/14