Hornets would be wise to consider Staley
The Charlotte Hornets are again in search of a coach after Steve Clifford decided to resign — when it was apparent he would not be back next season — and accept a front office position.
The Hornets, one of the most poorly run and bad-luck franchises in professional sports, have an opportunity to make history with their coaching decision and hire one of the most successful and astute coaches in the history of college basketball.
They should seriously consider hiring Dawn Staley, if she’s interested in leaving South Carolina.
Staley has won two national championships with a chance for a third Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. There’s no reason why the Hornets shouldn’t pursue Staley, unless you consider her gender a detriment.
It won’t be. The NBA is closing in on hiring its first female head coach. There have been dozens of female assistants, and the Celtics employed former WNBA player and college All-American Kara Lawson before she accepted the women’s coaching job at Duke.
Staley, 53, is highly respected in basketball circles, has enough connections to build a quality staff, and has dealt well with her players over the years. Staley has accomplished enough at the college level and it’s time she coached in the NBA.
“Any team in the NBA that has an opening should consider her for the position,” former Celtics assistant and Staley colleague Jerome Allen told the Globe. “Putting gender aside, she’s a coach. She’s a teacher. Her entire disposition is about service. She’s other people centered. She’s an inspirer and she engulfs anything that an organization, pro or college, would want as a person leading a program.”
The Celtics were interested in interviewing Staley a few years ago, but she chose to stay at South Carolina. The club eventually decided on Ime Udoka.
The Hornets are in serious transition with the future of LaMelo Ball uncertain because of his injury history.
Brandon Miller has flourished as a rookie, while Mark Williams could be a keeper at center. But the franchise hasn’t won a playoff series in 22 years and hasn’t made the postseason in eight.
Former owner Michael Jordan did not want to invest heavily in a head coach, so the Hornets banked on unheralded names such as Clifford and James Borrego to lead the team. Neither can be completely blamed for the Hornets’ downfall, but they were unable to take the franchise to the next level.
Management made some questionable moves, such as signing Gordon Hayward to a $120 million deal and drafting James Bouknight over Alperen Sengun or Trey Murphy. It’s time for the Hornets to start over with a coach who can inject enthusiasm into the program and has a history of winning.
Why not Staley?
“I know what hard work looks like,” Staley said after winning her second Associated Press Coach of the Year award. “I’ve been around some of the greatest women’s basketball players and coaches over my career as a player. I know what that looks like. I know what high-level basketball looks like. I know high-level people, how they treat people. So it’s ingrained in me. And I will say that if you approach it the right way, if you look at it for its innocence and its purity of the game, the game, when that’s out front, you may not be able to envision it, but it will be played out in front of you like you couldn’t imagine.”
Staley talks life as well or better than basketball. The NBA has always been open to the game’s brightest minds. Staley deserves an opportunity.
“I think sometimes people want to say I want to be this or I want to be that, I want to be great, I want to be successful,” she said. “And you sometimes skip some steps with how you deal with people and how you deal with success. I’ve been humbled from the first time that I touched the basketball, and I do feel like I have the same desire and the same purity for the game, the same innocence of playing the game and treating the game the right way, that it plays out like unimaginable, like something that’s unimaginable.
“Yes, we can say we want to win national championships and you want to coach the best players. That’s a saying, but the work that you put in to coaching those players, to winning those national championships, it’s really what it’s truly about, because there are a lot of experiences and memories that you create and that you try to re-create.”
The list of potential candidates for the Hornets includes Celtics assistant Charles Lee, who is overdue for his first head coaching opportunity, as is Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez. It’s a critical hire because the franchise needs a boost, to be uplifted by a familiar face, a true leader.
Charlotte, N.C., and Columbia, S.C., are 93 miles apart. Staley has been running the preeminent college program in the Hornets’ backyard. New Hornets ownership has to notice that and if they want to make an impact, they’ll give her an opportunity to interview, allowing her to determine whether Charlotte is the right fit for her. Staley would bring the utmost credibility and prowess to the position and after Sunday, maybe another national championship.
“It would be a phenomenal hire,” Allen said. “She’s not interested in any token interviews. They want to pretend to be progressive. It’s not progressive. You hire the best people. She wants to walk in a room where they see a coach, they don’t see gender. She wants to go in a room where organizations are looking to hire transformational leaders. And if that’s what they’re looking to hire, then check her record. They don’t get any better.”
CONTINUED GROWTH Tatum at work on and off court
It’s nearly the end of Jayson Tatum’s seventh season, and he’s enjoyed one of the better years of his career and the most team success with the Celtics already at 60 wins. But the game still teaches lessons, even to the most talented of teams.
The Celtics blew a 30-point lead March 25 in Atlanta and were handed one of the more embarrassing losses of the season. After consecutive losses in Atlanta, the club bounced back with three straight wins, including victories over the playoff-bound Pelicans and Thunder.
“Winning in the NBA is tough,” Tatum said. “You never let your foot off the gas regardless of how much time or how much you’re up. Obviously, leads are blown all the time. It’s tough to be on that side of it, so it’s a great lesson we can learn from it.”
Tatum reflected on his approach at this point of the season, and also dealing with marketing and media obligations. Tatum has partnered with companies such as SoFi and Coach, and at the same time staying focused on winning his first championship.
He does not like taking games off. He played Monday in Charlotte, partly because he enjoys playing near where he attended college and because the Celtics have a deep fan base in North Carolina. He played Friday against the Kings but is likely to get a couple games off before the playoffs.
Persuading Tatum to take breaks is not easy.
“I understand it in the long term, trying to play until the end of June and how important it is to get rest and manage,” he said. “I feel good. I’m on a really talented team so I haven’t had to exert as much energy as other years. So that’s the benefit of being on a really good team. I’ve played less minutes than I have the last two years, so I guess my usage is down. I play a lot, but it’s my life. I work hard in summer to prepare for these long seasons.”
During the Celtics’ trip to Atlanta, Tatum made an appearance on “Inside the NBA,” offering his opinions on the league and the Celtics. Tatum was more robotic with the media early in his career, and though he’s not as outspoken as some of his contemporaries, he has found balance in keeping his low-key personality while being affable with the media.
“Seven years in, for sure you’re more comfortable being in that position, being in the spotlight, still while being naturally who you are,” he said. “I’m never going to be the loudest guy in the room, but just being more comfortable in those situations as the years go by.
“I would say [I’m] more [comfortable on] a podcast. A majority of the time I only do podcasts with people I’m close with. So it was more like a conversation, I guess, than maybe an interview.”
Tatum said he has talked with several former NBA champions about how difficult it is to win the ultimate prize.
“Anybody I’ve talked to that’s won a championship talks about how tough it is, how connected you’ve got to be,” he said. “There’s some luck involved and how you are going to go through some ups and downs, even in the playoffs. The most connected teams usually win.”
Finally, Tatum weighed in on the recent NBA controversy regarding sports betting. Several players and coaches have acknowledged that fans will encourage them to play certain players or score a certain number of points to meet parlays. Tatum is no different.
“Fans yell all the time. ‘Shoot one more three, get one more rebound. Get 25 before the half is over,’ ” Tatum said. “It definitely is a part of it. It wasn’t like that my first few years, definitely it’s changed. If I hit people’s parlays and they do good, they will tell me. But then they also talk [expletive] if I’m on the court and I didn’t get 29 in a half or whatever I was supposed to do.
“You see people on Twitter, fans going back and forth with players about how you lost them money. I guess it’s kind of funny. I don’t know, I guess I do feel bad when I don’t hit people’s parlays. I don’t want them to lose money.”
ETC. Mavericks enjoy a resurgence
The Mavericks are one of the league’s more confusing teams. One stretch they look like Western Conference finals contenders. The next? They look like they could lose in the Play-In Tournament. Behind the greatness of Luka Doncic and a strong stretch from Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks have won nine of 10 and began Saturday fifth in the Western Conference.
Dallas trailed the Clippers by two games for the fourth seed, but it’s a strong possibility the teams will again face each other in the playoffs. With the recent additions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, the Mavericks have improved their depth.
Coach Jason Kidd said the supporting cast has been key to the resurgence.
“That’s why it’s called ‘the Mavericks’ — it’s a team,” Kidd said after Thursday’s 109-95 win over the Hawks. “Luka gets in foul trouble. This is a great scenario, could happen in a big game, it could happen in the playoffs. Someone else has to step up. Bringing [Irving] back early, he takes the reins.
[Dante] Exum and those guys fall into place and help us get back in the game. This is a team. Being able as role players to pick up your stars, like they did tonight, is big.”
Can the Mavericks carry this momentum into the postseason? Doncic has been brilliant at times in the postseason, but the rest of the roster is rather unproven. A first-round series against a healthy Clippers team will be difficult, but the Mavericks have picked the perfect time to play their best basketball.
“Understand playing your best basketball at this time of the year — March, April, May, June — gives you a chance to win a championship,” Kidd said. “That’s what we’re playing for. Going through different scenarios in January and December, that’s what the season’s for is to figure out and find out who you are. That’s what we’ve done.
“I think we understand who we are. Holding a team under 100 points is big. It just shows that our defense is at a high level. We’re creating the open shots, we just haven’t made them.
There is a theory once the playoffs start, we’re going to make all those shots and continue to play that defense. So, we will see.”
Irving, who is enjoying a resurgence after a few years of controversy and personal issues, said the move to Dallas was beneficial for his career, even though last year’s trade from Brooklyn was criticized.
“ESPN gave us a grade D for the trade of me coming here,” he said. “I think us clinching a playoff spot and putting ourselves in a great position definitely answers some of those questions that were asked last season by some of the naysayers and all of that stuff. It’s a great moment to again answer those questions and succeed in clinching a playoff spot.”
Layups
The Knicks have waited weeks for standout forward OG Anunoby and AllStar Julius Randle to return from injury so they could be whole. While Anunoby returned from his elbow issues Friday against the Bulls, Randle isn’t coming back this season. The burly forward will undergo surgery on his dislocated right shoulder and will miss the playoffs. Randle has missed the past two months. Without Randle, the Knicks are missing a bully in the middle and an established low-post scorer. Center
Mitchell Robinson just returned from ankle surgery. The Knicks could win a first-round series without Randle, but their chances of making a deep run are low . . . As expected, Vince Carter and
Chauncey Billups were elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, highlighting the Class of 2024. Carter played 22 seasons and was considered one of the game’s most exciting players before turning himself into a valuable reserve toward the end of his career. Carter’s shining moment was the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest in Oakland. Billups was one of Rick Pitino’s biggest mistakes as a coach. Taken third overall in the 1997 draft, he played just 51 games for the Celtics before Pitino traded him to the Raptors. Billups bounced around before finding his footing in Detroit, where he helped the Pistons win the 2004 title and was named NBA Finals MVP. He is currently the coach of the Trail Blazers . . . Speaking of the Trail Blazers, two former Celtics return to TD Garden on Sunday — guard Malcolm Brogdon and center Robert Williams. Brogdon was helpful to the younger players before suffering an elbow injury. The Blazers had high hopes for Williams before he sustained a season-ending knee injury that required surgery. Williams is with the team rehabilitating on its East Coast trip. Williams is expected to receive a “thank you” video from the Celtics.