The Sacramento Kings fired Reggie Theus on Monday morning, and it was announced that assistant Kenny Natt was named interim coach. The Kings also fired Chuck Person, Theus’ top assistant.
The writing seemed to be on the wall as early as November 15th when Joe Maloof called Theus out on a Sacramento radio show. It seems that losses in 10 of their last 11 games and falling to last place in the Pacific division was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Theus was not stellar in his short tenure with Sacramento going 44-62 in his first stint as an NBA head coach. The Kings did overachieve last season going 38-44 despite dealing with a lot of injuries, but their 6-18 record this season left a lot to be desired in spite of missing Kevin Martin for 15 games, Francisco Garcia for 17 games, and Brad Miller for the first 5 games of the season.
They are one of the worst defensive teams in the league and don’t back that up with a very good offense, and their rookies have regressed as the season has progressed. So the case can be made that Theus deserved to be fired.
The case can also be made that he never deserved to be hired in the first place, a point I belabored while the Kings were searching for a coach before the 2007-08 season. Reggie Theus was strictly a marketing pick during that off-season.
He was a recognized name in Sacramento having played for the Kings for 4 seasons; he had an appealing look that would attract fans, and he was coming off a good season as a college head coach at New Mexico State. As most of us know decisions made with only marketing as a factor usually don’t work out very well.
These poor decisions along with impatience, unrealistic expectations and the whims of an owner usually lead to a combustible situation that almost always ends with someone losing his or her job.
The decision of most owners to fire a head coach initially stems from unrealistic expectations, and this was one of the main factors behind Theus being fired. No one that knows basketball expected much from the Kings this season. They were picked as a lottery team in almost every pre-season preview, yet you would have thought this team was headed to the playoffs hearing or reading the Maloofs’ comments before the season.
They fully expected the Kings to be in contention for a playoff spot, and the fact that they still held that opinion even after the Kings were without two of their best players for two-thirds of the season just shows how delusional those expectations are. Owners have to be realistic sometimes.
Only half the teams in the league make the playoffs and only three or four have a realistic shot at winning a championship year in and year out. But when those expectations aren’t met (as they most often aren’t) the owners are usually very quick to play executioner.
Sign up now to receive our Sacramento Kings newsletter. All the best articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web delivered to your inbox twice a week.
4 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete