10 NBA Coaches Who Are Lucky to Still Have Their Job

It was announced on May 21 that the Orlando Magic fired head coach Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy's firing was expected, considering his feud with Dwight Howard this past season.

Van Gundy is not the only coach who has been on the hot seat, and I can think of 10 other coaches who could be gone any minute. The fact that they are currently coaches is merely a formality.

Let's get it going.

Mike Brown

To be asked to replace one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game on one of the most successful teams in history is no easy tasks. However, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown fell flat flat in his first year with the team.

His team in Cleveland was completely reliant on LeBron James. He carried that same philosophy to LA—only this time with Kobe Bryant. His late game lineups have been questionable, and his play-calling is not at the level it should be.

The Lakers fanbase requires excellence, and they could grow tired of Brown by the middle of next year.

Erik Spoelstra

This was one of the more obvious choices. I do feel a little bad about putting Spoelstra on here because I don’t believe he is a bad coach, and he does have the toughest coaching job in the NBA.

His team is the center of media attention, and he has two superstars on his team. The biggest knock on Spoelstra is his apparent lack of backbone and the way he seems to back down from LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

His game plan seems to focus on handing one of them the ball and letting them do whatever they want. He's a relatively young coach (41), and there's room to grow, but Pat Riley is not one to fully trust his coaches (see Stan Van Gundy).

Last season, there was some speculation about Riley coming in to coach, but he let Spoelstra handle the team, and the Heat ultimately lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

However, Spoelstra's defensive strategy has been a high point for the Heat.

Overall though, he failed last season and has constantly displayed signs of weakness and poor planning.

Avery Johnson

When the Nets were bought by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, the organization promised fans' success. One of the most promising actions by Prokhorov was the signing of head coach Avery Johnson, who saw great success in Dallas by putting together four consecutive 50-win seasons.

His first season was a disappointment, but he was given a free pass and kept his job. However, the hopes were high for this season.

Well, this season was just as bad, and it seems as though the Nets are destined to lose Deron Williams finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference yet again.

Considering the lofty expectations, it's safe to say that Avery Johnson is on the hot seat.

Keith Smart

To put it very simply, Keith Smart is a bad coach. The Kings have a good group of young players, but they still need to grow and need a leader to guide them. Smart is not that leader, and the Kings will not reach their potential with him there.

His contract is not done until the end of next season, but I expect him to be gone long before that.

Lawrence Frank

At this point, the future of the Detroit Pistons is probably one of the bleakest in the NBA. They have a good center in Greg Monroe, but the talent (or affordable talent) ends there.

The Pistons need a fresh face, and Frank does give them that, but they are the type of team I see having multiple head coaches between now and relevancy.

Frank is simply stuck in a bad situation, and if he starts off the next season anything like he did the 2010 season with the Nets (0-16), he will be gone.

Vinny Del Negro

Vinny is one of the worst coaches in the NBA today. His planning is terrible on both ends of the floor, and he absolutely cannot handle his stars. Chris Paul is the boss on the Clippers, and Vinny is simply the front man.

He has not developed his players, and the only reason Blake Griffin is improving is because of his own incredible work ethic.

The Clippers are the biggest floppers in the NBA, and their softness is very similar to the softness of their coach.

Del Negro is lucky to have a job in the NBA, period.

Gregg Popovich

I have to throw a little humor in here!

Mark Jackson

There is a trend in the NBA that sees good-great players make terrible coaches and managers. Michael Jordan, Kevin McHale, Isiah Thomas, and now, Mark Jackson.

That is very odd, but unfortunately, very true. In his first year, Jackson put together an absolutely miserable record considering the talent at his disposal. Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis and David Lee.

They also have solid depth on the bench with Nate Robinson and Brandon Rush. However, Jackson has shown little no knowledge of how to put together a working lineup, and while the offense clicked, the rebounding and defense were both terrible.

Klay Thompson had a very good rookie season, but he had to work ridiculously hard in order to get Jackson to put his faith in him. When Thompson finally received playing time, Jackson went overboard and played him 40 or more minutes in seven straight games.

He does not seem to have a very strong grasp of how to successfully manage a young team, and that should be really obvious at this point.

Jackson should be fired, or else, the Warriors will be dealing with another Isiah Thomas.

Kevin McHale

I published an article on McHale’s shortcomings just a few days ago, but I will give a quick summary.

He's not a good leader, does not have a good game plan, mismanages minutes and does not seem to know how to put together a good lineup. 

Byron Scott

Scott is not a bad coach, but he's not the leader he's often painted as in the media. His lineups are suspect, and his all around planning before a game is not up to par. He would make a good assistant coach, but as a head coach, he's below average.

To see a rebuilding team like the Cavaliers sign him is really surprising to me. While he developed Chris Paul into a star, much of that was due to Paul himself, and CP3 was the head guy on that team.

There's a trend with many of the coaches on this list to lack backbone, and Scott does have it, but he will shy away from a star as well. It will be interesting to see how he deals with Irving as he grows and becomes more of a leader.

My guess is that Scott will be in Cleveland for at most two more years.

Randy Whitman

When signing a new coach, the idea should be to improve. The Washington Wizards didn’t get that memo. They signed a terrible coach to lead an immature, below-average team.

Without knowing anything about the NBA, it should be painfully obvious the Wizards finished with a horrible record.

He should have never been hired in the first place and will almost certainly be gone soon enough.

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