The end of Warriors’ era
Time for Fertitta to seize the moment and fire or extend DA’ ntoni and get down to business
After losing to Toronto in the Finals, Golden State won’t be what it once was.
Tilman Fertitta is a self-made, business-driven, multibillionaire. He does not have to be reminded to seize the moment.
But I will now use this space to say what needs to be said.
The Rockets have publicly and privately been going backward since falling to the Warriors again.
The NBA is staring at a summer of massive change. The Rockets are still playing silly PR games with their coach, leaving the rest of the league wondering what has gone wrong inside Toyota Center.
Two of Golden State’s Big Three exited the NBA Finals on crutches; the Warriors’ dynasty is either officially over or hobbled and facing major change. The Rockets have about 95 percent of their roster wondering when they’ll be traded, two weeks before free agency begins.
Now is the time for Fertitta to seize the moment.
Now is the time for the Rockets to get their act back together.
There has been too much drama. Too much public back and forth. No unified, singular message.
From “Run As One” and “Run It Back” to “Who’s In Charge?”
Turmoil and frustration are in. Stability is out. How does that make sense when the Rockets have spent a decade trying to convince professional superstars that Houston truly is a shining destination city for the league’s most powerful names?
I’ll say again what I said a month ago.
If the Rockets want to move on from Mike D’Antoni, get it over with and fire him. If they don’t, extend and back him.
At league value. Without insulting him, loading the “reward” of D’Antoni’s extension with financial reminders that the team’s owner can fire the coach whenever the billionaire wants.
The Rockets have backtracked, said the wrong things, spoken too soon and revealed too much. Last week, there was supposedly some magical summit in West Virginia that was leading to an imminent extension. A week later, crickets.
No new conversation, as of Friday afternoon. Nothing going on as the Los Angeles Lakers go big again by pairing Anthony Davis with LeBron James, exRocket Kyle Lowry and ex-Spur Kawhi Leonard celebrate a championship in Canada, and the Western Conference opens up for the taking.
“Mike knows what he wants. They haven’t come close to it,” said Warren LeGarie, D’Antoni’s agent. “So, at this point, we can only deal with the reality of what we have. That is, we have an existing deal for this upcoming season. That’s it.”
Advice for the Rockets up top: Less Mark Cuban, more Peter Holt.
LeGarie’s professional relationship with the Rockets’ coach dates back 30 years. D’Antoni endured serious, Hollywoodworthy drama in Phoenix, New York and Los Angeles, then won NBA Coach of the Year with the Rockets in 2016-17 and followed that honor up with a franchiserecord 65 wins. There is nothing the coach and his agent haven’t been through or seen.
“We’re not looking for anything they don’t want to do,” LeGarie said. “Mike has a contract and he plans on coaching it out.”
If the Rockets don’t believe they can win a championship with D’Antoni, fine — they wouldn’t be the only local doubters and national criticism is nothing new. But then it’s immediately on general manager Daryl Morey and Fertitta to find the next Nick Nurse.
If the Rockets truly want to hoist the NBA’s next golden trophy, publicly saying one thing and privately doing the other probably isn’t the best way to take down the 12 or so other teams that will be fighting for the same title next season.
James Harden must still evolve and improve — he could learn a couple things from The Klaw. Chris Paul must be wondering how much longer he’ll be wearing Rockets red. For all the franchise’s firepower since 2016, player agents now see a team held back by an aging, overpriced, top-heavy roster. They also wonder why a franchise worth billions seems so intent on saving millions. Is the owner or GM running the on-court show?
The moment that Fertitta dropped a cool $2.2 billion to buy the Rockets, we wondered what type of owner he would be.
The team has won 118 games the last two seasons. The NBA Finals were in sight a year ago. Toyota Center buzzes and roars, brighter and louder than ever before. The Rockets have deserved your nightly attention, even with the eventual annual disappointment. Fertitta’s investment has shined when he has allowed the basketball experts to do their thing.
The Warriors are aching. The West will be won by the strongest. The Rockets should be too smart to waste time playing games.
Lock down D’Antoni or find a new coach. Then move it forward. A summer of serious change is waiting.