Wes Unseld Jr. Out as Wizards Coach, Moves to New Role; Brian Keefe Named Interim HC

Wes Unseld Jr. is out as Washington Wizards head coach amid the team's 7-36 start this season, but he will remain with the organization.

According to a statement from Wizards president Michael Winger, Unseld will transition to an advisory role in the front office. Brian Keefe will serve as the interim head coach.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Keefe will finish the regular season before the Wizards hire a full-time coach during the offseason.

Unseld was in his third season as Washington's head coach and had a 77-130 record. He began his coaching career with the Wizards as an assistant from 2005 to 2011.

When the Wizards declined to promote Unseld after the 2010-11 season, he left to become an assistant on Mark Jackson's staff with the Golden State Warriors.

After one season with the Warriors, Unseld joined the Orlando Magic. He was fired, along with the entire coaching staff, midway through the 2014-15 season.

Unseld's longest stint as a coach with one organization was six seasons with the Denver Nuggets from 2015 to '21. He was hired when Michael Malone took over as head coach.

Then-Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly previously worked under Unseld's father, Wes Unseld, with the Wizards.

When the Wizards hired Unseld, they were stuck in a state of purgatory because their roster wasn't good enough to contend but they avoided trying to tear everything down. This resulted in back-to-back 35-47 records in his first two seasons.

The Wizards finally went in on a rebuild over the summer by trading Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porziņģis. Their results on the floor have been rough with an offense and defense that ranks in the bottom 10 in the NBA.

Washington's 7-36 record is the second-worst in the league, ahead of only the Detroit Pistons (5-39). The team is in the midst of a five-game losing streak, which includes a 129-117 loss to the Pistons on Jan. 17.